I'm sick to the back teeth of striking resident doctors

Are our striking resident doctors becoming the “new Just Stop Oil?” If you catch my drift immediately, the unfortunate answer to that is “yes”.

- SEAN O'GRADY

If not, then you probably soon will, and that is not good for the standing of the medical profession. You may well, like me, feel that these doctors are just the very same kindly people who've helped you when you've been in need: hard-pressed and dedicated medics, people with a cause people feel an instinctive sympathy for. In the case of the climate protesters, it is saving the planet by getting governments to take the necessary action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the case of the docs, it is saving the NHS by making Wes Streeting treat medical professionals fairly. Both feel they are being driven to radical action.

There is even the superficial resemblance of the resident doctors adopting Just Stop Oil's bright orange as their combat dress, but also the much more fundamental parallel in that they are spoiling a good campaign by winding the public up and losing the popular support that, in the end, is their best chance of success. The fight against climate change and the drive for net zero seems to have suffered in recent months, not least because the public has been more preoccupied with the cost of living and business, in Britain at any rate, has had to deal with crippling energy bills.