Future industrial action ‘will be even bigger’ if ministers do not act, union boss warns – as hundreds of thousands of workers walk out
A union leader has warned if the dispute over workers’ pay is not resolved, further industrial action “will be even bigger” and strikes will continue “right through the summer”.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of The Public and Commercial Services Union – one of the largest unions in the UK – told Sky News ministers should be aware that “the amount of people taking or voting for action is going to grow”.
“It’s not feasible that they can sit back with this unprecedented amount of industrial action growing because it’s half a million today,” he told Kay Burley.
Largest strikes in more than a decade underway – politics latest
“Next week, we have paramedics and we have nurses. There will be the firefighters we know who have now voted for strike action.
“So the amount of people taking or voting for action is going to grow – and I don’t believe the government will find it can get away with putting its head down while all this disruption takes place.
“And I think they’ll be forced to take a much more realistic attitude.
“But if they refuse, we are planning for our campaign to continue right through the summer with both long-term, sustained, targeted strikes – but also mass actions like today.
“And I think we will see if there is another one, it will be even bigger than the one today.”
Tonight at 7pm Sky News will have ‘How to End the Strikes’, a special live programme talking to both sides in today’s industrial action.
Mr Serwotka added there is “a crisis of in-work poverty” – and claimed that 40,000 civil servants are using food banks.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt of being “missing in action” as hundreds of thousands of workers strike in the biggest day of industrial action for more than a decade.
General secretary of the TUC Paul Nowak told Sky News the government is “playing a little bit fast and loose with the British public” in suggesting that issues around workload, recruitment and retention can be addressed without talking about pay at the same time.
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Rising support for unions – poll
“They’re absolutely connected,” he said.
“And really the government needs to sit down. As I say, the prime minister and the chancellor come to the table, find some new money.”
Read more:
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Mr Nowak added: “I think last time I was on your programme two or three weeks ago, I said that we wanted to sit down with the chancellor and the PM to talk about what could be done in terms of fair pay settlements, new money on the table.
“We haven’t had a response.”
He continued: “I’m an optimist and I’m a negotiator, and I hope that the government will listen and will come to the table.”
Teachers in England and Wales who are members of the National Education Union (NEU) are staging walkouts today – which the union estimates will affect 23,000 schools.
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Why are teachers striking?
General secretary of the NEU, Mary Bousted, said around 85% of schools across both nations will be fully or partially closed, leaving some parents with no choice but to take leave from work or arrange childcare.
“So unfortunately, about 85% in schools will have been impacted for a strike that didn’t need to happen. if the government had been prepared to negotiate,” she told Sky News.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan admitted that the government “don’t know” the exact number of schools that have closed their gates but will be publishing that information “this afternoon”.
“We have done a survey which a lot of heads responded to, so that gives us some idea,” she told Kay Burley, adding that “the majority of schools would be open”.
Ms Keegan added that it would be “irresponsible” to offer pay rises in line with inflation.
Train drivers from the RMT and Aslef unions are also staging another strike as a long-running dispute over pay and conditions rumbles on – with university lecturers and bus drivers taking action too.
About 123 government departments are set to be disrupted by industrial action as well.
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‘Majority of schools will be open’
Protests are being held across the country against the government’s controversial plans for a new law on minimum service levels during strikes.
Speaking from a picket line on Wednesday morning, leader of the Aslef union Mick Whelan told the PA news agency that workers stripped of the right to strike in order to maintain minimum service levels under proposed laws would be reduced to the status of a “slave”.
Downing Street conceded that today’s mass strike action will be “very difficult” for the public.
A Number 10 spokesperson said: “We regret the decision taken by multiple unions to strike as we greatly value the work of their members.
“We want open and honest dialogue about pay.
“Secretaries of state continue to have constructive meetings with their union counterparts, representing a positive step towards increasing dialogue and finding common ground.
“We also want to discuss non-pay concerns including conditions and workload.
“We cannot chase the tail of inflation. Increasing all public sector pay would cost £28bn – equivalent to £1,000 for every household.”
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More strikes are expected next week and will be dominated by NHS staff, with both nurses and ambulance workers planning action.
NHS consultants in England are also preparing for possible strike action.
And the following week will see Border Force officers at four ports strike over four days in the February half-term.
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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