Britain hit as up to 400,000 strike

BRITAIN was hit by the most wide-ranging wave of strikes in a decade on Thursday, with up to 400,000 public sector employees, from teachers to coast guards, striking against the Labour government.

It was another blow to prime minister Gordon Brown after he was forced by party rebels into a humiliating policy reversal over tax cuts on Wednesday, and came a week ahead of local elections that will be his first big test at the ballot box.

Driving instructors, job centre workers and employees in pension and benefits offices joined teachers and coast guard operators in the one-day strike over pay. The unions estimated that between 100,000 and 400,000 people joined the action.

Refinery workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland are also set to strike in a dispute over pensions that could cause fuel distribution problems.

Business Secretary John Hutton said there was no need for the government to invoke emergency powers and Britain had enough fuel stocks and imports to maintain supplies.

Thousands of striking teachers marched through central London in a peaceful demonstration. Public opinion remains divided, with many supporting their stand and many others — largely parents — frustrated at the disruption.

Tens of thousands of teachers and thousands of college lecturers are staging their first national strike in 20 years, frustrated over pay deals they say don’t match inflation.

Union spokesman Alex Kenny said: “Today’s strike won’t be the end of it.”