Picketing Parliament

By way of Spectating, I thought I’d take a quick stroll along Westminster’s picket lines. And, to be honest, there isn’t a huge amount to see, as yet. The groups of around five or six industrial actioneers outside some departments trump the small pile of placards outside the Treasury. There are about thirty to forty people picketing Parliament itself. The photo I shot hastily on my iPhone, above, should give you the sense of it.

The striking workers I spoke with, however, were bullish about people turning up later in the day, especially with the march that’s happening this afternoon — as well as for the strike’s general progress in the rest of London and beyond. An organiser for Met staff reckoned on about 70 per cent turnout from his cohort. ‘The strength of feeling is particularly strong,’ he said.

As for their opinion of yesterday’s Autumn Statement, there was — unsurprisingly — nary a generous word to be found anywhere. ‘Very dismissive’ was how that same organiser described it, citing the pay cap for public sector workers. ‘Insulting,’ ‘foolish’ and ‘provocative’ were the words that others bandied around. When I mentioned the deficit and all that, many argued that the public sector ‘contributes to the economy too’, and so should not be unduly burdened.

But their anger was not just directed at George Osborne, even if he was the inspiration for most of it. Ed Miliband caught some flak too. He should be supporting the strike more vigorously, many argued. The word most frequently attached to the Labour leader was ‘disappointing’.

Anyway, a quick portrait of the streets around 22 Old Queen Street and The Spectator offices. If any CoffeeHousers have any striking stories of their own, then do tell them in the comments section below.