300,000 UK civil servants in strike vote

Almost 300,000 civil servants in the UK are to be balloted for a one-day national strike on November 5 against British government plans to cut jobs, it was announced today.

The ballot, the biggest in a generation, is in response to controversial plans by the government to axe more than 100,000 jobs in the service.

The Public and Commercial Services Union said it expected support for the 24-hour walkout which will cripple Whitehall departments.