Gloucestershire’s phlebotomists have brought their historic strike to a close after almost a year of action, leaving a legacy of determination – and a clear lesson about the power of solidarity in the face of anti-union laws and austerity, says FBU general secretary STEVE WRIGHT
WITHOUT doubt one of the things that has most cheered me in these generally dark days of the coronavirus has been the thousands of children who have made pictures and posters to thank the heroes of our amazing National Health Service.
Virtually every one of them has used that most inspiring of symbols — the rainbow.
One or two families have gone over the top a wee bit with the rainbow. Some have chalked the entire front of their house in rainbow colours and at least one has enshrined his rainbow thanks by painting the house front with long-lasting rainbow stripes in exterior paint.
Millions of ordinary English people of all backgrounds consider the cross their own — abandoning it, and its left-wing history that includes the peasants’ revolt, concedes vital ground to the right, argues SIMON BRIGNELL



