Adam Boulton: Is Britain’s year of strikes headed for an uprising?

Published

3 years ago

November 25, 2022

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At this year’s Trade Union Congress (TUC), union leaders representing 5.5 million members called for “a special working group of willing unions which would organise coordinated action over pay and terms and conditions where possible with all TUC unions, including further demonstrations, national and regional rallies, and coordinated industrial action where possible”.

Mick Lynch, who is currently leading the highest profile strike by railway workers, declared: “I would support a general strike and co-ordinated action.”

Asked on Sky News about a general strike, Sharon Graham, general secretary of UNITE – one of the biggest unions – told Sophy Ridge: “If there are a number of strikes happening at the same time, people can call it what they like, quite frankly.”

Heading into this winter, the UK is facing its biggest wave of strikes for at least a decade, involving action by more than a million workers in the public sector led by the major trade unions.

Do these powerful calls for “synchronised action” mean the UK will soon plunge into a “general strike” to match the historic General Strike which took place just under a century ago in May 1926?

Only the general council of the TUC can call a general strike, and union bosses sit on the council.

Yet for all the rhetoric so far, there is considerable practical reluctance to escalate industrial actions in multiple sectors in what would turn into a formal confrontation with the government.

From nurses to teachers: The year in strikes

Come what may, 2022 will go down as a year of strikes.

Some 560,00 working days were lost in August and September – almost twice the total for whole years recently – and industrial actions are mounting.

In pursuit of their pay-claim, 40,000 members of the RMT union have announced more one-day strikes over the Christmas period on 13, 14, 16 and 17 of December, and 3, 4, 6, and 7 January 2023. There will also be an overtime ban in the weeks in between. Train drivers in ASLEF plan strikes for other days.

For the first time ever and following a yes vote in a ballot, the Royal College of Nursing is announcing strike days by more than 300,000 nurses. And 400,000 NHS workers in UNISON are currently voting on strike action, with the result due in January.

Christina McAnea, the general secretary of UNISON, said recently: “Co-ordinated action unites us, and we have a single goal: end this pay crisis in this country.”

• The Royal College of Midwives is also consulting its members. So are the junior doctors in the British Medical Association (BMA)

• 70,000 in the University and College Lecturers union (ULU) walked out this week

• 115,000 postal workers in the Communications workers union are continuing strikes from November into December

• 400,000 teachers and support staff in the NASUWT – National Education Union (NEU) are holding a strike ballot, with the result due in the new year. The separate Scottish teachers union is already taking action

• 100,000 civil servants in the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have voted heavily for industrial action

• There are also disputes involving airline ground staff in the GMB, some dockworkers, London bus drivers, BT and Outreach staff amongst others

Different strikes, same cause

These disputes all have the same root cause: UK inflation is now running at 11%.

The unions want above inflation pay awards to combat the cost of living crisis. Already, they point out, their members’ earnings have declined in real terms, and are now worth what they were in 2008.

Fourteen years is the longest period of wage stagnation in modern times. If they were to catch up in real terms, pay awards would have to be 15% or more.

Workers in the private sector are currently settling for below-inflation increases averaging around 6%, but many public sector employers have yet to match that with their offers.

Secondary complaints by the unions include protests at what they regard as the privatisation of public services and proposed changes in working practices which, they believe, would adversely impact conditions for those involved.

Employers often want to attach strings demanding changed working practices to potential pay awards.

What history tells us about general strikes

Demands for more pay to avoid falling behind and against poorer working conditions were also central grievances in the 1926 General Strike, though in much starker form.

Then, 1.2 million miners in the privately owned (but strategically vital and government monitored) coal industry were locked out after opposing wage reductions and worse contracts. Eventually, negotiations between the unions, employers and outside advisors broke down.

Rail, transport, printing, dock and iron and steelworkers joined the General Strike in support of the miners’ claim of “not a penny off the pay, not a minute on the day”.

At its height, some 1.75 million workers were striking.

The Conservative government led by Stanley Baldwin was well-prepared for the strike. Special constables to ensure “the maintenance of supplies” had been recruited, although the proposal of then-chancellor Winston Churchill to deploy armed troops was rejected.

Middle class volunteers acted as strikebreakers, ostensibly to preserve essential services.

After nine days, the TUC General Council called off the General Strike. The miners lost and had to accept longer hours and lower wages.

The coal industry continued the decline, which would run all the way through full nationalisation to the Miners Strike of 1984-1985 during Mrs Thatcher’s premiership.

Historians say the General Strike has to be seen in the context of genuine fears of revolution in the wake of the communist take-over of Russia a few years previously. The Labour Party was only just establishing itself as a party of government and then, as now, it did not fully support the strikes.

Sunak’s less confrontational approach

This has not stopped Rishi Sunak repeatedly demanding that Sir Keir Starmer should tell Labour’s “union paymasters” to call off the strikes.

In practice, Sunak’s government seems to be taking a less confrontational approach than his immediate predecessors.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper readily agreed to meet with the RMT. Mick Lynch described their encounter as “positive” though he said he was no closer to calling off the Christmas strikes.

Society is much less polarised about the strikes now than it was in 1926. The Conservative government may have changed the law to allow railway companies to bring in agency workers to keep services running, but they have so far declined to do so, even if such substitute workers were readily available.

There was no NHS in 1926. The centrality of public health workers in the current disputes has increased public sympathy. After a rolling dispute with health workers back in 1982, Mrs Thatcher won re-election and then gave the nurses an annual pay award of up to 14%.

In polls, around 60% support the current strikes, with between 24% and 33% opposing them. But less than half agree that pay awards should be as big as the unions are asking for.

The RMT risks losing public sympathy with its strikes disrupting the Christmas festivities, including “Black Eye Friday”, the biggest day for office and work parties.

After two Christmases wiped out by COVID, the hospitality industry in London alone reckons the disruption will cost it some £300m, with an estimated national bill of £1.2bn. The media-savvy Mick Lynch has been forced to deny he is a “Grinch” on national TV.

In these straightened times, the UK is by no means the only country being hit by waves of industrial protests. South Korea, Bolivia, Portugal, Greece, Italy, and France have all recently been hit by national waves of cost-of-living strikes.

The US Congress passed a law to block a planned railway strike.

Yet the membership of organised trade unions is in decline. The unions lost the General Strike of 1926. Since then, most governments have taken steps to weaken the effectiveness of mass action.

In this country, most citizens and workers are caught in the middle and suffer the consequences without being directly involved.

A class confrontation or co-ordinated “uprising”, along the lines hoped for by Mick Lynch, is unlikely.

Instead, continued widespread and sporadic disruption are near-certainties in the coming months. Individual disputes will eventually be settled above what employers and the government say they can afford, but below what the strikers are asking for.

UK

Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis says anti-IDF chants ‘crossed a line’ and no place at festival for ‘hate speech’

Published

3 hours ago

June 29, 2025

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Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis says anti-IDF chants 'crossed a line' and no place at festival for 'hate speech'

Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis has said chants of “death to the IDF” on its West Holts stage on Saturday “very much crossed a line”.

Eavis, whose father Michael co-founded the festival, posted on Instagram on Sunday morning responding to rap duo Bob Vylan’s set the day before.

“Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,” she wrote.

She said that while “as a festival, we stand against all forms of war and terrorism – we will always believe in – and actively campaign for – hope, unity, peace and love”, adding a performer’s comments “should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs”.

Eavis added: “With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share.”

The rappers’ set was streamed live on the BBC on Saturday, showing one of them shouting the slogan into the mic, with some of the crowd joining in.

They also performed in front of a screen that claimed Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to “genocide”.

The Israeli embassy posted on X in the hours after the set saying it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric”.

It said the slogan used “advocates for the dismantling of the State of Israel”.

The post on X added: “When such messages are delivered before tens of thousands of festivalgoers and met with applause, it raises serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence.”

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it will be formally complaining to the BBC over its “outrageous decision” to broadcast the performance.

Avon and Somerset Police said they are looking at whether a criminal offence was committed.

“Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation,” the force said in a post on social media.

Bob Vylan’s set may have pushed things too far

Gemma Peplow

Culture and entertainment reporter

@gemmapeplow

Bob Vylan, a punk-rap duo known for their politically charged lyrics taking on racism, fascism, police brutality, toxic masculinity, inequality and more, performed on the festival’s third biggest stage, West Holts, with a capacity of about 30,000.

They played to their own fans but no doubt thousands who had turned out to secure their place for the controversial Irish-language rappers Kneecap who followed.

After the Bob Vylan performance was aired live, clips quickly flooded social media – shared by those supporting the band and condemning them.

“The BBC didn’t cover Kneecap’s set at Glastonbury Festival over Free Palestine chants, so Bob Vylan, who BBC covered, stepped in,” posted the Celebrities4Palestine account alongside a clip on Instagram, also shared by Bob Vylan.

The IDF comments on stage may well have been made regardless. Or did Kneecap’s “cancelling” by the BBC, as some people saw it, encourage other acts to speak out even more?

Police are investigating both performances. Kneecap’s Naoise O Caireallain, who performs under the name Moglai Bap, at one point mentioned “a riot outside the courts” over his bandmate Liam Og O hAnnaidh’s (Mo Chara) upcoming second appearance on a terror charge, before clarifying: “No riots, just love and support, and support for Palestine.”

With its history of activism, Glastonbury has always championed free speech. But it seems Bob Vylan’s set may have pushed things too far.

It’s fair to say that here at Glastonbury, for most of the 200,000 people on site this weekend, it is still all about the music. The majority did not see these sets and many are not even aware of the criticism outside Worthy Farm.

Today is the final day of artist performances, with acts including Olivia Rodrigo, Rod Stewart and the Prodigy on the bill. But instead of the magic of the most famous festival in the world, both organisers and the broadcaster are now facing more questions about Bob Vylan and, to a lesser extent, Kneecap, as criticism mounts.

Bob Vylan went on stage just ahead of a performance by Kneecap, the Irish rap band that the prime minister and others called to be removed from the Glastonbury and other festival line-ups over alleged on-stage endorsements of terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Ultimately, the BBC decided not to broadcast Kneecap’s set live, but have since made it available to watch on catch-up on iPlayer.

One of its members, Liam Og O hAnnaidh, was charged with a terror offence in May after being accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig.

His bandmate Naoise O Caireallain told Glastonbury crowds on Saturday they should “start a riot outside the courts”, before clarifying: “No riots just love and support, and support for Palestine.”

O hAnnaidh – also known as Mo Chara – wore a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf for their set and told fans he was a “free man”.

Questions over why BBC broadcast chants

The government’s culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to BBC boss Tim Davie for an “urgent explanation” about what steps were taken around the Bob Vylan set.

Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on behalf of the government, Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the chant as “appalling” and a “shameless publicity stunt”.

“The fact that we saw that chant at a music festival – when there were Israelis at a similar music festival who were kidnapped, murdered, raped, and in some cases still held captive,” he said in reference to the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack at the Nova music festival.

He added that while “there’s no justification for inciting violence against Israelis… the way in which Israel’s conducting this war has made it extremely difficult for Israel’s allies around the world to stand by and justify”.

“I’d also say to the Israeli embassy, get your own house in order, in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank,” he told Phillips.

Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch reposted a clip of the Bob Vylan set describing it as “grotesque”.

“Violence against Jews isn’t edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked,” she said on X.

Lucy McMullin, who was in the crowd for Bob Vylan, told Sky News: “When there’s children and civilians being murdered and starved, then I think it’s important that people are speaking out on these issues.

“However, inciting more death and violence is not the way to do it.”

A BBC spokesperson confirmed the Bob Vylan stream will not be made available to watch on its iPlayer.

“Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive,” their statement said.

“During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.”

UK

Israeli embassy ‘deeply disturbed’ by Bob Vylan’s ‘death to the IDF’ Glastonbury chant

Published

7 hours ago

June 29, 2025

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Israeli embassy 'deeply disturbed' by Bob Vylan's 'death to the IDF' Glastonbury chant

The Israeli embassy has said it’s “deeply disturbed” by chants of “death to the IDF” at Glastonbury – as police also investigate the incident.

Video shows one of the members of Bob Vylan shouting the slogan into the mic and some of the crowd joining in.

The duo were performing ahead of a performance by Kneecap, the Irish act who the prime minister said should be ditched from the line-up.

“The Embassy of Israel in the United Kingdom is deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival,” a statement said.

It said slogans like Saturday’s chant “advocate for the dismantling of the State of Israel”.

Avon and Somerset Police said they are looking at whether a criminal offence was committed.

“Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation,” the force said in a post on social media.

Bob Vylan also performed in front of a screen quoting a claim that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to BBC boss Tim Davie for an “urgent explanation” about what due diligence it carried out into Bob Vylan.

A spokesman said the government strongly condemned the “threatening comments” by the group, whose X bio describes them as a “punk/rap/alt thing”.

A BBC statement said: “Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive.

“During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language.

“We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch re-posted a clip of the incident and called it “grotesque”.

“Violence against Jews isn’t edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked,” she said on X.

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A statement from Glastonbury Festival said it “does not condone hate speech or incitement to violence of any kind from its performers”.

Irish group Kneecap followed Bob Vylan – with the broadcaster not carrying their performance live amid concern over what they might do or say.

However, it’s understood their show will be made available on demand after a review.

One of its members, Liam Og O hAnnaidh, was charged with a terror offence in May after being accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terror group Hezbollah at a gig.

Bandmate Naoise O Caireallain told the packed Glastonbury crowd they should “start a riot outside the courts”, before clarifying: “No riots just love and support, and support for Palestine.”

O hAnnaidh – also known as Mo Chara – wore a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf for Saturday’s set and told fans he was a “free man”.

UK

Girl, 7, dies after tree collapses at park in Southend

Published

16 hours ago

June 28, 2025

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Girl, 7, dies after tree collapses at park in Southend

One girl has died and another is in a critical condition after a tree partially collapsed at a park in Essex.

The girls, aged seven and six, suffered serious injuries when they were among a number of children caught beneath the tree at Chalkwell Park in Southend.

Essex Police confirmed the seven-year-old girl died in hospital and her family is receiving support from specialist officers.

Three other children suffered minor injuries following the incident.

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 2.55pm to reports that a tree had fallen in Chalkwell Park in Chalkwell.

“Six ambulances, three ambulance officer vehicles, the London Air Ambulance and Kent Air Ambulance were sent to the scene.”

Police said an investigation is continuing into what caused the tree to collapse.

‘Unimaginable hardship’ for families

Chief Superintendent Leighton Hammett said: “Families are facing unimaginable hardship this evening and all of our thoughts are with them at this time.

“I cannot begin to put into words how difficult today’s events have been, and continue to be, for them.

“It’s also not lost on me how traumatic it must have been for the members of the public who witnessed this awful incident.

“Across a matter of moments, many of them went from enjoying the warm summer weather to rushing to the aid of strangers without a second thought.”

Chief Sup Hammett also paid tribute to police, ambulance and fire crews who “did all they could,” adding that “today’s loss is one they will all take personally”.

Death is ‘truly devastating’

Local MP David Burton-Sampson said: “The news of the sad death of one of the children involved in the incident at Chalkwell Park today is truly devastating.

“I am sure I reflect the thoughts of all our residents here in Southend in sending my deepest condolences to the child’s family and friends.

“My thoughts are also with the other children injured and I wish them a full and speedy recovery.