THE current strike wave has caught the government on the hop. It thought public opinion would turn against strikers and it hoped the ballot thresholds might not be reached. It was wrong, has been wrong-footed and is being forced to make some concessions — at least in the form of talks.

There are elements of panic both in ministerial circles and among Tory backbenchers who fear for their seats in the next election. The government’s bid to force workers in key sectors of the economy and public services to provide a “minimum service level” on strike days is a transparent bid to blunt the growing wave of trade union militancy — and it failed, as the massive National Education Union ballot demonstrates.

The government’s new laws are most likely to be found in breach of its obligations to international treaties and flaunt the minimum standards set by the UN’s International Labour Organisation.