Rail strikes: is Britain on track for a ‘summer of discontent’?

The ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ is planned for next week

Trains across the UK could come to a standstill from June
(Image credit: Alberto Pezzali/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The industrial strife that brought Britain to its knees in the 1970s may be “a distant memory”, said The Times. But we’re about to learn that “militant trade unionism” can still wreak havoc: next week, 40,000 rail workers will strike for three days; and 10,000 London Underground workers will also walk out. The biggest rail strike since 1989, it will create misery for hundreds of thousands of people, ranging from teenagers sitting public exams to cricket fans trying to get to the Test at Headingley; and it may just be the start.

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