‘Britain isn’t working’: This is why strikes are dangerous for the government

The strikes are a challenge for Labour as well as the Tories, writes Andrew Grice

The government is wary of making a bigger offer to one group of workers for fear the figure then becomes the norm (PA)

Nurses, ambulance workers and hospital staff are discussing coordinated industrial action on 20 December, compounding the government’s headache. There will also be strikes by rail and mail workers and civil servants before Christmas.

Ministers believe the trade unions will lose public support, even though the workers, especially the nurses, enjoy more public sympathy than they did during the original Winter of Discontent in 1978-79. Some Tories even dare to believe the disputes could help them narrow the gap with Labour in the opinion polls – one MP reflected when real votes were cast in Thursday’s parliamentary by-election in Chester.

In public, Rishi Sunak’s ministers nod to the public sympathy by adopting a more conciliatory tone than they did under Liz Truss and Boris Johnson. Ministers now deign to meet rail union leaders; it should hardly come as a surprise but makes news. However, the government stops short of becoming directly involved in the negotiations, and insists the pay demands are “unaffordable”.