Leading article: Strike back

In a way, it would be rude for the unions not to strike later this month. They are in the business of changing government policy by threatening strike action. They had planned to wait until next year, when the cuts would be biting hardest, to force David Cameron into a Heath-style U-turn — but it seems the Prime Minister’s resolve is running out faster than they expected.

In a way, it would be rude for the unions not to strike later this month. They are in the business of changing government policy by threatening strike action. They had planned to wait until next year, when the cuts would be biting hardest, to force David Cameron into a Heath-style U-turn — but it seems the Prime Minister’s resolve is running out faster than they expected. Just a year into government and already he has torn up his flagship NHS reform, because Shirley Williams in the House of Lords was making dark threats. A perfectly sensible proposal to transfer ownership of some forests was axed after a successful campaign by Rachel Johnson of The Lady magazine. If the government can be beaten up by Boris Johnson’s little sister, then the unions must be eager to try an attack of their own.

The Prime Minister is, unusually, making a virtue of his U-turns. Abruptly reversing policies is, he says, a ‘sign of strength’ because ‘people respect a government that feels it is strong enough to say “hold on, we haven’t got every element right, we’re not taking enough people with us”’. The laddie is for turning, and seems proud of it. But this sets a new precedent. Failure to turn around the opinion polls is, it seems, now enough reason to abandon a policy — even one such as NHS reform, which has already survived two phases of House of Commons scrutiny.