Rishi Sunak has created a dedicated unit to co-ordinate the UK government’s response to a threatened “winter of discontent”, as more than 10,000 ambulance workers became the latest public sector employees to vote for strike action.
The prime minister has put Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden in charge of preparing contingency plans to cope with a wave of walkouts, anticipating future ones and overseeing Whitehall’s approach.
The move comes as concerns mount in government over the threat posed by widespread industrial action, particularly in the public sector: James Callaghan’s Labour administration was fatally weakened by the “winter of discontent” of 1978-79.