Inside Politics: Strikes crackdown and taking back control

Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

Happy Friday. You’ll be delighted or disappointed to know that there are no speeches planned by any political leaders from east London today.

Parliament returns on 9 January.

Despite warnings that it could be illegal and unworkable, the government will press ahead with a plan to introduce new legislation that would enforce “minimum service levels” in key public sectors during industrial action.

Health, education, fire, ambulance, rail and nuclear workers would be subject to the law, which would allow bosses in those sectors to sue unions and sack employees, sparking fury among union officials, who say they are already preparing legal action against it.

Grant Shapps, the business secretary, insisted yesterday that workers still had “the freedom to strike”, but that the plan would bring the UK’s regulations into line with other European countries such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Speaking to broadcasters, Shapps said the government will introduce a bill “quickly” to parliament.

Taking questions after his speech in east London, Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said his party would repeal the legislation if he wins the next election, expected in January 2025 at the latest.

Nurses, who would be affected by the law, are due to walk out again on 18 and 19 January in an ongoing row over pay and conditions. Are we beginning to see the first tentative steps towards some real progress in bringing the dispute to an end? Pat Cullen, general secretary of the RCN, has said that nurses would be willing to accept a 10 per cent pay rise.

In an interview for a Times Radio podcast published last night, Cullen said that the 19 per cent figure demanded by nurses was just a “starting point” and that she was willing to “meet the government halfway”.

Rishi Sunak’s government has so far refused to discuss pay in the ongoing dispute, with ministers repeatedly saying they are sticking to the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies.

Meanwhile, rail passengers face a fourth consecutive day of travel disruption on Friday because of a strike by thousands of workers in a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions. Services will be crippled by the walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail and 14 train operators.

open image in gallery

Unlock unlimited, ad-free reading on the website and in The Independent app when you subscribe – plus, benefit from our welcome offer when you join today.

Take. Back. Control. Those three words form what was probably the most effective and consequential election slogan in recent memory. And yesterday, Starmer made an audacious bid to nick it, as he set out plans for his take back control bill, aimed at devolving power out of Westminster.

The Labour leader’s speech was, like the prime minister’s the day before, critcised for a lack of detail and mocked in some quarters for robbing the aforementioned slogan, as the Labour leader sought to neuter attacks on his former support for Remain.

Only time will tell whether or not Starmer can pull it off. John Rentoul, our chief politics commentator, reckons that Sunak made the better address but that it is the Labour leader who has “the wind in his sails”. Read John’s piece here.

See all of The Independent’s daily cartoons here

open image in gallery

Starmer on Westminster politics.

“You know, sometimes I hear talk about a ‘huge day in Westminster’, but all that but all that has happened is someone has passionately described a problem and then that’s it. Nothing has changed, the circus moves on, rinse and repeat.”

Christopher Hope, Daily Telegraph associate politics editor, on Starmer’s speech.

“It’s Sir Keir Starmer’s turn to ‘Take Back Control’ – and the Tories should be afraid.”

Inside Politics first appeared in our daily morning email. You can sign up viathis link.