Continued attacks on right to take lawful industrial action

The period 2013-14 saw escalating calls to further restrict lawful industrial action, in particular:

Carr Inquiry into “trade union tactics”

Bruce Carr QC, the barrister who represented British Airways in its bitter dispute with cabin crew, has been appointed to carry out a government inquiry to decide whether UK industrial action laws, already among the toughest in the developed world, should be even more restrictive.

The Conservative party has announced that if it wins the 2015 election it plans to introduce a 50% turnout threshold on industrial action ballots in “essential services”.