A £1,000 payment to nurses could stop a war of attrition

When trade unions warned last autumn a "winter of discontent" was coming, Tory MPs were sniffy, pointing to the relatively low number of strikes compared to the infamous 1978-79 winter of discontent that hastened the end of the Labour government.

- ANDREW GRICE

But thanks to the government's intransigence, the unions' warnings have come true. In November, almost half a million days were lost to industrial disputes, the highest figure in a month since 2011. In the six months to last November, more than 1.6 million days were lost, the most in any year since 1990.

Today, nurses and Environment Agency staff strike in England, ambulance workers have announced more stoppages and teaching unions hold talks with Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, ahead of a series of strikes by the National Education Union starting on 1 February. That day will see the highest number of strikes since 1978-79, with rail workers, civil servants, and university lecturers also due to walkout. Tories are calling it a "de facto general strike". (It isn't. The real general strike in 1926 lasted for nine days).