The debate about NHS strikes is turning into one of those ‘am I being unreasonable?’ threads on Reddit and Mumsnet, where posters jump all over each other to point out the way someone has messed up in a relationship.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay is still hoping to win the war of attrition between the government and healthcare workers by appealing to the unions to be reasonable and constructive. Barclay made that argument again today when taking departmental questions in the Commons, but his announcement last night that he would be taking the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to court in a bid to stop that union’s strikes showed that it is becoming harder, not easier, to stick to this line of attack.
Labour’s argument about how it would be more reasonable isn’t convincing
The RCN had been one of the reasonable unions in these disputes, with Barclay and others in government using them as an example that more recalcitrant organisations like the British Medical Association (BMA) should copy.
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