Hundreds of thousands of teachers, nurses and border guards protesting over pension reform staged Britain's first mass strike for more than 30 years today in a confrontation with the government over its austerity measures.
Prime Minister David Cameron played down the impact of the strike, calling it "something of a damp squib", saying 40 per cent of schools were open and the main London airports were working smoothly.
Unions hit back, saying up to two million public sector workers walked out over reforms that unions say will force them to work longer before they can retire and pay more for pensions that will be worth less.
Their anger has been fuelled by new curbs on their pay and additional job cuts outlined yesterday when the Conservative-led government cut economic growth forecasts and said its tough austerity programme would last until 2017.
"Why are the government picking on us in the public sector?," said Kevin Smith (54) picketing outside parliament in London, where he works as a security officer. "We are going to get a 1 per cent pay rise for the next three years. We had no rise the last two years, before that we were getting lower than inflation rises. So how long is it going to last?"
Updating MPs in the Commons on the impact of the strikes, Mr Cameron insisted talks were continuing with the trade unions.
“I do want to thank all those people, including a number of people from Number 10 Downing Street, who are actually helping to keep our borders open and to make sure Heathrow and Gatwick are working properly," he said.
“I can report that so far the evidence would suggest that around 40 per cent of schools are open, less than a third of the civil service is actually striking.
“At our borders the early signs are that the contingency measures are minimising the impact, we have full cover in terms of ambulance services, and only 18 of the 900 job centres are closed," the prime minister said.
“So, despite the disappointment of the party opposite, who support irresponsible and damaging strikes, it looks like something of a damp squib.”
Chancellor George Osborne condemned the strike, which closed schools in England and Wales and forced hospitals to cancel all but the most urgent operations.
"The strike is not going to achieve anything. It's not going to change anything," Mr Osborne told BBC TV. "It is only going to make our economy weaker and potentially cost jobs."
The government, trying to turn around a debt-laden economy teetering on recession, says reform is needed as people are living longer and public service pensions are unaffordable.
The strikes mirror protests in continental European countries where governments are trying to juggle budget deficits with the needs of an ageing population. Airlines said they cut flights into Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, because of fears of long delays and overcrowding due to the passport control strike.
The government flew some embassy staff home and recruited volunteers from other departments to help take the place of striking border staff. Severe delays that had been feared did not materialise.
Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, which is co-ordinating the strike, said workers were no longer being asked to make "a temporary sacrifice, but accept a permanent deep cut" in living standards.
"Our economy can afford decent pensions, the cost of public sector pensions is due to fall over coming decades," Mr Barber told Sky News. "We're not going to solve our problems in our economy by hammering down the living standards of six million public service workers."
A coalition of 30 trade unions are taking part in the strike, billed as the biggest walkout since action during the "Winter of Discontent" in 1979 that helped Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher sweep to power.
Agencies