British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday he was prepared to talk to trade unions, but striking was counter-productive and the government would not be bullied into ditching deep spending cuts. "I hope that people don't go on strike because it never achieves anything," he told BBC TV's Andrew Marr show.
Britain's trades union chief told Reuters unions from all sectors were aiming to mobilise as big a coalition as possible to fight the cuts. Trades Union Congress general secretary Brendan Barber said on Saturday the student protests against tuition fee hikes last month, which saw the worst political rioting in almost two decades, may be a sign of the things to come. Cameron said the government was open to talks with public sector unions as they were made up of "very reasonable people", but would never divert from tackling the budget deficit.
"We have to explain as a government why what we are doing is fair and right and balanced," Cameron said.