London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Freezing week of strikes threaten Sunak's sober approach

Freezing week of strikes threaten Sunak's sober approach

The advent calendar of strikes is unremitting.

From health workers in Northern Ireland on Monday, to strikes involving nurses, posties, baggage handlers, bus drivers, road workers, driving test examiners and rail workers will happen between now and the weekend, as the nation gears up towards Christmas.

And with the cold weather and the pressure on purses caused by the cost-of-living crisis, events are now colliding with the new-ish government.

Later this week, Rishi Sunak will overtake Liz Truss in prime ministerial miles on the clock.

Wednesday will be his 51st day in office. Liz Truss managed 50.

And what a contrast between this autumn's two prime ministers.

The Truss administration was like a firework display, where every rocket, banger and Catherine Wheel went off at once.

By contrast, Mr Sunak has tried to make a virtue of a government with barely a sparkler between them.

There has been a quiet seriousness, and a determination to avoid going out of their way to pick fights, particularly with their own side.

I am told they have been preparing for this wave of strikes since day one in office, back in late October.

Now, while they still hope to resolve the disputes, it appears ministers are in mitigation mode.

The government's emergency response committee, known as COBR, is meeting today and will do again on Wednesday.

Further such meetings will follow.

Over the weekend, the Department of Health put in what is known as a MACA request in the Whitehall jargon - Military Assistance for the Civil Authorities.

My understanding is several hundred military personnel will be recruited as ambulance drivers.

They will have a five day training course, but I'm told this won't involve practicing driving with the blue lights flashing on the open road.

When they do do that, during a strike, they will be accompanied by non striking NHS staff.

It is expected that members of the military will wear their normal uniforms when they are filling in for strikers.

The Army is providing 85% of the military support, but all of the armed services are involved.

It is perhaps this week that the full scale of the consequences of this industrial action will start to become clear.

Where significant chunks of both the services we rely on daily, and those we hope are always there if we need them, are not - or at least not as they usually are.

For some an inconvenience. For others, potentially dangerous. And politically important too.

Where this leaves the government, the trades unions and public opinion could yet shape how long these disputes rumble on for.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×