Will Sunak be able to hold his line against the strikers?
This is by far the biggest day of industrial action that we have seen in the NHS since it’s foundation nearly 70 years ago.
The issue, like with the other big public areas where action is taking place, is the unions are not wanting to accept a pay increase that does not match inflation. They argue that to do otherwise would be accepting what is a pay cut.
Sunak has been very firm about his resolution to fight these demands. The big Issue for him and the Tories, is that this isn’t being supported by the polling. He hasn’t got public opinion on his side and that at the end of the day might be decisive.
So far it is hard to see either side changing their position which probably means many more periods of disruption to vital public services like the NHS.
On a personal level I was booked for an operation on my spine in an NHS hospital last Friday and I was absolutely petrified that this would get put back into the strike periods. Fortunately for me that did happen but I could be messed about with follow-up appointments.
Does Sunak fully appreciate the scale of the challenges that he has created for himself. He is a politician remember with very little experience having only become an MP in 2015.