‘There is sympathy for workers going on strike – Government is in the firing line’ – Keir Mudie

The public appetite for taking on the Government has never been higher, writes Keir Mudie, who has noticed significant support for workers taking industrial action as they ask for fair pay

I’ve been up north for a while, which is good, but 100% made me realise how soft living in the south makes you.

First off, it’s cold. Like, bitterly cold. Baltic. Arctic. I’d forgotten how hard it is to get out of bed. The whole region should get a winter fuel bonus and a giant electric blanket. Seriously.

Second, there is very little evidence of any sort of ” levelling-up ” going on anywhere that I’ve been.

There were stats last week about banks leaving the high street and being replaced by tattoo parlours. Meaning that in some parts of the country it’s easier to get a traveller’s cheque tattooed on your chest than it is to pick one up at your branch.

Also, most off the pubs in town have shut. The decent ones anyways.

Good news, though, is that my local is still open, and it’s nice to be back in there after a decade of being dangerously overcharged for Guinness.

The talk in there is about the World Cup, naturally, but when we get on to politics it’s strikes. That’s all people are talking about. Strikes, and how much support they’re getting.

There were some interesting conversations. The polling showed that in the summer, strikers were largely supported by the public. It’s dropped off a bit since then but still holding.

The figures show 60% of us back the nurses, slightly less the teachers, and there is good support for the railway workers and posties.

But in my local, and I had been worried about this, it was 100% support. I was worried because I thought people might be getting frustrated. Cancelled trains, no mail, and relentless stories about the pressure striking health ­workers are putting on the NHS.

But people can see through it. The sympathy for people going out is still there – it’s the Government and the bosses who are in the firing line.

Because people have long memories. A Government that lauded key workers, promised to reward them, can’t expect the public to follow when they decide to turn on the very people they were out banging pots and pans for.

It is going to be tough, though. As Chris from the polling firm Savanta says, it is going to be interesting to see whether this level of support holds through a very tough winter.

The people in my local are ready for it. We’re aware of what’s coming. There will be a ramping up of pressure on the nurses the minute someone dies in hospital. And the ambulance drivers.

Or the posties will get some hammer if Christmas mail is delayed, the rail workers if any plans get cancelled.

They know what’s coming – the sort of pressure they’ll be under. But they should also know that they have our support, and they deserve it.

Public appetite for taking on the Government has never been higher, summed up by my mate’s reaction to news that the UK’s first new coal mine in 30 years was approved in Cumbria.

“It’s great really that they’ve opened that new coal mine,” he said, “because that’s another set of people that can go out on strike.”

You can’t get sentences like that anywhere else. It is brilliant to be back in the north. Cold though.