The National:

THE Tories have been busy this week devising a plan to stop public sector workers from striking for fair pay deals.

They could have engaged with NHS and railway staff to try and come to some sort of agreement but, as always, they can’t see past the end of their nose and just want to make sure they have the upper hand on what they clearly see as pesky unions who shouldn’t be listened to.

But hey, here’s an idea. Rather than telling everyone else they can’t strike, why don’t the UK Government walk out themselves?

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One bold Question Time audience member put that idea straight to Tory MP and junior minister Alex Chalk on Thursday night and it was received with plenty of nervous laughter, including from Chalk himself.

The audience member said: “I absolutely support the right to strike, I think we should do it and I’d like to invite Alex, the government and the Tories to strike immediately because we could absolutely go without your service.”

You can hear someone saying in the background “you wouldn’t know the difference”, but I think we’d all benefit from watching the Tories stand out in the cold after losing all grip on their power. It’s certainly a sight hard-working people looking for a decent wage so they can keep putting food on the table would love to see.

What do we want? Tories out. When do we want it? NOW.