Politics

Union boss savages Rees-Mogg with understated sledge

A union boss who represents striking civil servants hit out at Jacob Rees-Mogg with a fantastically understated sledge.

Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) that represents civil servants appeared on Sky News to speak to Kay Burley about the ongoing strike action.

Burley asked him to send a message to the politician who has said that the UK doesn’t need as many civil servants as it has.

“What we don’t need is Jacob Rees-Mogg,” he clapped back.

The biggest strike in a decade got under way today, with up to half a million workers walking out in increasingly bitter disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.

Members of seven trade unions are taking industrial action, affecting schools, universities, trains and buses.

Thousands of schools closed for the day because of action by the National Education Union (NEU), although many parents only found out on Wednesday morning if their children would have to stay at home.

Civil servants, train and bus drivers and university staff also stopped work on the biggest single day of strikes in a decade.

Picket lines were mounted outside railway stations, schools, government departments and universities across the country, with unions saying they are receiving strong support from the public.

Related: UK and EU ‘strike customs deal’ in protocol breakthrough

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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