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Europe's unions slam Tory plan to stop strikes
Minimum Service Levels Bill strips workers' rights and ‘moves Britain further away from democracy’
Protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in London, as the Bill on minimum service levels during strikes reaches its second reading. Picture date: Monday January 16, 2023.

UNIONS representing more than 20 million workers across Europe have condemned the Tory government’s authoritarian attack on the right to strike, stressing it will drag Britain “even further away from democratic norms.”

In a joint statement over the weekend, the leaders of nine French, German, Spanish and Italian unions dismissed Downing Street’s claims that the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill will bring Britain into line with the rest of the continent — saying it will actually leave the country an outlier.

Ministers have repeatedly named some of Britain’s continental neighbours as countries they are supposed to be emulating through the legislation, which is set to face a bumpy ride when it reaches the House of Lords this week.

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