first satellite mission launched from british soil malfunctions. home entertainment sales go through the roof as households spend big on videos, music and gaming. and coming up on the bbc news channel, could we see more cup upsets later? newcastle will be hoping to right the wrongs of their fa cup shock. they are in league cup quarterfinal action tonight. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. as strike action today continues for some public sector workers, the government is to introduce a bill to ensure a minimum level of service during periods of industrial action. under the proposals affecting england, wales and scotland, some trade union members would be required to continue working. today in scotland, primary school teachers are closed as teachers strike in their dispute over pay. last ditch talks with the scottish government yesterday, failed to reach agreement. the unions rejected a 5% pay rise, with further walk outs planned tomorrow, hitting state seconda
relations lawyer. also this afternoon. there were more excess deaths than usual in the uk last year. the highest number outside the covid pandemic in half a century. some shops open at midnight to meet demand for prince harry s heavily trailed autobiography, which is now on sale. and a setback, not a roadblock. the team behind a uk space mission which failed to launch say they will keep on trying. and this picture has been causing something of a stir on social media today, because someone or something is missing. we will be revealing all. good afternoon. in the last few minutes, the government has been introducing draft legislation to limit future industrial action in the public sector. the bill would cover health, fire and railway workers. ministers say it would introduce a minimum level of service. unions have reacted angrily to the proposals, which they say potentially are undemocratic and unworkable, and would limit the right to strike. the business secretary grant shapps
employers who won t negotiate with them over wages, such as in the national health service, where the government so far has refused to discuss wages because they say that pay is set by a pay review body. and the other difference is that if agreement is not reached here and what the minimum service level is to be, it will be imposed by law. that is not the case, i think, in most of the other european countries. and it will be a requirement if this proposed bill follows the example of the transport minimum service level bill which was introduced before christmas, if trade unions don t take reasonable steps to ensure that workers required by their employer to operate the minimum service levels don t take part in the strike, then the strike will become unlawful, the trade union can be sued, and all strikers, notjust those who have refused to operate
to break strikes, quadrupling of the damages payable by trade unions. so this comes on top of that. i think another point to make is that it is said that we are acting consistently with other countries in europe which have minimum service level provisions, but there are some fundamental differences between the united kingdom and those countries in europe. fora united kingdom and those countries in europe. for a start, collective bargaining coverage is much greater in western europe, so that when unions are asked to agree minimum service levels, it s easy in france or spain, because they are negotiating with the employers anyway, and particularly over pay, whereas in this country, negotiation over minimum standards will be required of trade unions even with
for example, on page 359, william s alleged physical attack on harry. a little earlier, the much commented upon section concerning his time with the army in afghanistan. i can always say precisely how many enemy combatants i can always say precisely how many enemy combatants i killed, and i thought it vital never to shy away from the number. among the many things i learned in the army, accountability was near the top of the list. so my number? 25. across the world, harry s words are on sale. of course, many people will not want to read them, including, harry told one interviewer, his father and his brother. and if the royal family have an opinion on the book, they are not making it public. sarah campbell, bbc news. a higher than usual number of people in the uk died last year. the figure of excess deaths is nearly 660,000, below peak covid levels, but still 9% higher than