Now on Bbc News political thinking with nick robinson. Hello, And welcome to political thinking a conversation with, rather than a newsy interrogation, of someone who shapes our political thinking about what a shape theirs. My guest this week has just celebrated ending the longest Train Drivers strike in history a strike that was blamed for crippling the railways And angered many, many travellers. His members haVe Got a 15 Pay Rise over three years. He is Mick Whelan, The General secretary of aslef. He said that his members strength, resilience, And determination was what had won that Pay Rise others say it was down to his crafty negotiation style. Mick whelan, welcome to political thinking. Thank you, nick. You finally got a deal after all that time how did you celebrate . Erm, by talking to the press. As soon as it becomes public knowledge, you And your colleagues obviously, so sky, bbc, the guardian, the usual outlets, And press will be Here Today With You And once you ve done that,
You look so wonderful in that dress i love your hair like that. Serenaded by Sheeran The Moment The Star surprised a school teacher, who was out for a jog after work. Im coming up, it is a repeat of the 2023 Champions League final as Manchester City get their European Campaign under way against Inter Milan later. Good afternoon. The United Nations says the timed explosion of pagers used by hezbollah in lebanon marks an extremely concerning escalation in tensions in the middle east. Health officials say at least 12 people are now known to have been killed, and nearly 3000 wounded. Hezbollah has blamed israel and vowed to retaliate. 0ur middle East Correspondent Yolande Knell is following developments from jerusalem. Lebanon is still reeling from the shock. Across the country, Hundreds Of Pagers carried by hezbollah members exploded simultaneously wherever they happened to be. The iran backed Armed Group had been using the low tech devices to try to make it harderfor its messages to be i
Lets take a quick look at a few of the stories on the Front Pages. Starting with the Daily Telegraph, the headline on the Front Page, of course, we have been talking about it, new phase of Mideast War after Walkie Talkie blitz. If we move on to the guardian, unsurprisingly, the top Story Tonight on newsnight again is on the Front Page, fears of escalation as Second Wave of deadly explosions hits 11 on. And the Daily Express has the same headline, or a very similar one, Walkie Talkie blasts in Second Wave of attacks, against hezbollah up to his following page explosions. And the daily mirror, after pager attack, Walkie Talkie bomb blitz, everyone seems to go with those headlines and as i say, unsurprising. The Daily Mail has come labour has undermined israel, says netanyahu. And I Think finally, there is the daily star, the king of the carriages. They have a different Front Page Keir Starmer, we havejust been have a different Front Page Keir Starmer, we have just been talking about it.
Got to have somewhere to deposit it. So the rules that were announcing also cover the ability of businesses to deposit cash in a location thats convenient to them. But convenience is a difficultjudgment. To maintain the current provision of free access to cash, for now, the new rules will state that people should have to travel no more than a mile in urban areas to withdraw or deposit cash. In rural areas, the distance has been set at three miles. Theres going to be situations where people are very reliant on Public Transport and if theres bad Public Transport in an area, then three miles might seem like a hike to the himalayas. Whats important is that this recognises that the banks have a duty to protect their customers and to make sure that those who still rely on cash, which is so many of us, continue to be able to access it. If they fail in that duty, banks could be fined by the city watchdog. But Bank Branches are closing at a rate of more than 50 a month. So, the answer may be Ba