DEVOLVED Scottish and Welsh ministers could play a crucial role in blocking the implementation of the Tory government’s widely condemned anti-strikes Bill, Fire Brigades Union leader Matt Wrack said today.

In a letter to SNP First Minister Humza Yousaf and his Welsh Labour counterpart Mark Drakeford, Mr Wrack urged both administrations to convene summits with unions to plan a “united campaign of resistance against the authoritarian legislation.”

The call comes after the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which could empower bosses and even ministers to sack workers who refuse to cross their own picket lines, suffered a string of defeats in the House of Lords earlier this week.