On February 1, five hundred thousand workers went on strike in the UK’s biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade. Teachers, university staff, train drivers, bus drivers, and civil servants stood side by side to protect each other from low pay and defend the public services upon which we all rely.

The wave of solidarity did not stop there. The following Monday saw the largest National Health Service (NHS) strike in history. I joined health care workers at University College Hospital on Euston Road — the most euphoric picket line I can remember. “Claps don’t pay the bills” rang around Holborn and St. Pancras, sending a message to MPs who were happy to applaud health care workers’ dedication during the pandemic but now refuse to back their demands for the pay raise that dedication deserves.

Nurses are not just striking for decent pay and conditions. They are fighting for their right to do so. In January, the government passed its anti-strike bill in the House of Commons, requiring certain industries to meet minimum levels of safety. If the Tories cared about minimum safety levels in our hospitals, they would support striking workers in their demands for a fully funded NHS. Instead, by overriding the fundamental right to strike, they are preventing people from fighting for the safety of us all.