AFTER being forced into u-turns on housebuilding and onshore windfarms by internal party politics, the Prime Minister appears to see the strikes as a chance to tackle criticism of being weak.

But calling for even tougher anti-strike legislation (that will not affect current industrial action anyway) and whipping up a union brawl believing the public will be on his side, is clearly misreading the mood of the nation.

Lacking any vision or strategy of his own, he is using the go-to solution of any recent Tory PM and channels his inner Thatcher and repeating her 1979 arguments. Unfortunately for him, that was then.

Forty years on, popular sympathy for the right to strike has grown due to reasons beyond the current cost of living crisis.

Since the financial crash(es), the country has witnessed a boom in unearned asset wealth and pay at the top, combined with stagnating or falling real-term wages for almost everyone else. A decade of underinvestment in the public sector shows that much of the country just doesn’t work properly anymore.

The public knows that responsibility for this dysfunctional state of affairs is not lying with 1970s-style militant trade unionists, but with successive Conservative governments.

Lars Kramm,

Manor Heath,

Copmanthorpe

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How you can you help Ukranians this winter

WHILE the temperatures here at home are dropping, people in Ukraine are facing a sub-zero winter – as low as -15 degrees centigrade – as they continue to live in damaged homes with limited or no heating.

It’s not just cold, it’s potentially life-threatening. At the international disaster relief charity ShelterBox, we’ve been helping people affected by the war in Ukraine since March, and we’ll be helping thousands more through the winter months.

We have essential aid in Ukraine designed to help people survive a long and harsh winter. With the help of our partners, we will be providing people with thermal blankets, clothing, and emergency repair kits – including tarpaulins and timber – to help them fix damaged roofs, seal windows and doors, keep the heat in, and make homes watertight.

Some people will also receive solid fuel stoves, and a supply of firewood that will last the average family through the winter, to help them prepare for the bitterly cold season. With power supplies continuing to be targeted, this type of stove is regularly used to heat homes in rural areas of the country and is desperately needed to help people survive the cold.

With winter here, we’re renewing our urgent appeal to help fund ShelterBox responses around the world. For more information about ShelterBox visit www.shelterbox.org.

Martin Strutton,

Emergency coordinator,

ShelterBox

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Planning system is 'broken and discredited'

SO a marquee behind a Grade II pub in Holgate Road is refused permission on the grounds it damages that heritage asset but solar panels on a Grade I medieval cathedral in the heart of the city look set to be waived through.

It is difficult to believe the Dean and Chapter would have lodged their Minster application without prior consultation and an encouraging response from the powers that be.

It will be interesting to see if this is yet another manifestation of perverse inconsistency in a broken and discredited planning system.

Matthew Laverack,

Laverack Associates Architects,

Lord Mayors Walk,

York

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