Are you sure Angela? Rayner under fire for claiming government has overseen ‘more strikes than at any time before’ when official stats show there were more days lost to industrial action under a previous Labour government (and Margaret Thatcher!) [Video]

11:11 EDT 24 Apr 2024, updated 12:01 EDT 24 Apr 2024

Angela Rayner raised eyebrows today as she claimed there has been more strikes ‘than at any time before’ under the current Tory government.

Labour’s under-pressure deputy leader made the remark as she kicked off Deputy Prime Ministers Questions in the Commons this afternoon.

It came as her Tory opposite number Oliver Dowden accused Labour of wanting to ‘repeal every single Conservative trade union law’ within 100 days of winning the next election, paving the way for ‘French-style wildcat strikes.’

She responded to the claim by saying:  We have had more strikes under this Government’s watch than at any time before.’

Ms Rayner’s bare statement is true, but it does not tell the whole story. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that at the peak in March 2023 there were almost 700 stoppages taking place across the UK. 

This was almost twice the next highest total …