Mr Blair's unsought fight

摘要

It's a testament to how things have changed that, after nearly five and a half years in office, it is only now that the government is facing its first serious bout of union militancy. Not only does it have much at stake in its scrap with the bolshie leadership of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), which plans to strike next week, but it is also entering largely uncharted political waters. The rather mixed messages the government has been sending are some indication of this. At every opportunity, the prime minister reiterates his mantra that unprecedented "investment" in the public services is conditional on reform. Although he hasn't repeated for some time his use of the word "wreckers" to describe union leaders opposed to change, or mentioned recently the "scars" they have put on his back, he doesn't have to.