‘Spend time to help strike-hit businesses’

PEOPLE have been urged to keep calm and carry on when unions attempt to bring the nation to a halt with an unprecedented wave of strikes.

Industrial action on the railways has already had a devastating impact on the economy, with struggling pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels believed to have lost more than £2billion in trade.

Now nearly half a million workers are set to hold a “general strike” by walking out on February 1, with civil servants, teachers, university staff and train drivers taking part. Further rail strikes are also planned for February 3. And the NHS is braced for the biggest strike action in its history on February 6, when ambulance workers and NHS staff in the Unite and GMB unions join members of the Royal College of Nursing in walkouts. Action by nurses continues on February 7.

But Business minister Kevin Hollinrake is urging the public to help keep the shop tills jingling.

He said: “Today, I call on all you Sunday Express readers to do your bit in helping your local businesses weather the storm.

“Whether it’s grabbing a coffee from your local cafe or doing your weekly shop at the market, we must do our best to carry on as normal.”

Mr Hollinrake said the Government is willing to hold “constructive conversations” with unions about pay. But he insisted: “Repeated strike action is not the answer when we’re all under pressure from high inflation and a rising cost of living.”

Union leaders say that concern about soaring prices and real-terms wage cuts has forced their members to take action.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, insisted the public remain sympathetic to striking train drivers. He said: “They understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it – because they want a pay rise, too.”

‘We must do our best to carry on as normal’