Ministers consider tougher curbs on strike action

The government is exploring the idea of significantly restricting or even banning the right of ambulance workers and firefighters to go on strike.

A number of government departments are working up a range of options to toughen up new legislation designed to reduce the impact of industrial action.

I am told the prime minister hasn't made any decisions yet on precisely what he wants to do.

He wants to bring forward planned new laws as quickly as possible.

The timeframe for doing so is expected soon, but no specific timetable is being committed to publicly yet.

Introducing new legislation isn't likely to be feasible before January and it wouldn't reduce the impact of industrial action due to happen imminently.

Ministers are thinking of extending existing plans to introduce what are known as Minimum Service Level Agreements to public transport to other sectors, including the emergency services.

These would allow strikes to happen, but impose a legal floor on how limited the resulting service on a strike day would be.

Nurses, paramedics and rail staff are among those set to strike this winter.

The latest strikes to be announced are by Border Force staff at several airports, who are walking out over Christmas in a row over pay, jobs and conditions.

Officials at the Department of Health are expected to meet trades unions as soon as Thursday to discuss broadening the range of emergencies they would be willing to respond to while a strike was under way.

As things stand, they would attend life-threatening emergencies but not others.

If there wasn't a willingness from the unions to volunteer to broaden the list of what are known as "derogations" or exceptions during a strike, there is a growing appetite within government to legislate to do this.

Senior ministers met on Wednesday, I understand, to discuss the options on the table.

Government figures insist they want to be "reasonable," as they put it, in dealing with the waves of strike action being announced, but if trades unions behave in what they see as an "unreasonable" way, they have a duty to respond.

Rishi Sunak has told the BBC: "It is my responsibility to make sure everyone can be kept safe and we can minimise the disruption on their day-to-day lives, and I will do what I need to do to make sure that is the case."

He added that he had to ensure "people can go about their day-to-day lives free of the enormous disruption these strikes are going to cause."

Sharon Graham, general secretary of the trade union Unite, has said if the government "put more hurdles in our way, then we will jump over them. We are ready industrially and financially. I will continue to fight and win for workers."