'Forced into this': UK nurses to go on strike for first time

On Thursday December 15, nurses in the UK will go on strike for the first time, with union representatives saying they have been “forced into” action.

Staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland -- but not Scotland -- will walk out on December 15 and 20, after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union said the government had turned down an offer of negotiations.

The nurses’ action joins a number of strikes this month, with rail workers and ambulance drivers walking out after UK inflation hit a 41-year high of 11.1 percent in October on soaring energy and food bills.