Portrait of the week: Rail strikes, rates rise and a record-breaking stingray

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A rail strike on three alternate days, bringing the system to a standstill for a week, was organised by the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union. On the first day, the London Underground came out too. Tram drivers in south London arranged a strike of their own. Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, instructed his frontbenchers not to join strikers’ picket lines, but some did. EasyJet announced plans to cut 7 per cent of its 160,000 flights scheduled between July and September after Gatwick, easyJet’s main airport, said it would reduce the number of flights taking off. Flights carrying up to 5,000 passengers were cancelled at Heathrow airport on one day because of trouble with baggage-handling. The Treasury confirmed that the state pension triple lock was being reinstated, meaning that pensions would rise by about 10 per cent; benefits would also rise by the rate of inflation. Interest rates were raised by the Bank of England from 1 per cent to 1.25 per cent, the highest level in 13 years. Inflation rose from 9 to 9.1 per cent.

Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, had an NHS operation on his sinuses under general anaesthetic at 6 a.m. on Monday. Three days earlier he had made another visit to Kyiv to shake President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hand and announce training for Ukrainian servicemen. His absence meant he missed an engagement with the Northern Research Group of Conservative MPs, annoying some of them. General Sir Patrick Sanders, the new Chief of the General Staff, said in an internal message: ‘Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underlines our core purpose – to protect the UK and to be ready to fight and win wars on land – and reinforces the requirement to deter Russian aggression.’