PEOPLE in Scotland are more consistently supportive of striking workers across a range of industries than those living in other parts of the UK, new polling has revealed.
A YouGov study ranking levels of support for workers taking industrial action found that Scotland is most supportive of RMT staff (50%), postal workers (56%) and university employees (45%) on strike, as well as those on picket lines across several other sectors.
Scotland-based respondents to the poll offered the highest level of support for strikers in nine out of the 14 industries selected for the survey.
Those industries included airport baggage handlers (49%), highway workers (48%), driving examiners (42%), Border Force staff (48%), firefighters (67%) and civil servants (46%).
Across the UK as a whole, people were most likely to support striking nurses (66%), ambulance staff (63%) and firefighters (55%).
The least supported workers were driving examiners (31%), Transport for London workers (36%) and civil servants (37%).
However, people living in London were more likely to back strike action among nurses, ambulance staff, bus workers and teachers than those in Scotland - though there was still majority support among those north of the Border.
YouGov polled 1758 adults across the UK amid a wave of strike action taking place this winter.
Postal workers, RMT staff, civil servants, DVSA staff and airport employees are all walking out in Scotland this month, while other parts of the UK have seen nursing strikes and industrial action among road maintenance workers amid rows over pay and conditions.
Rishi Sunak and his Cabinet ministers did not discuss strikes during their meeting on Tuesday, Downing Street said following the session, despite nurses again walking out and ambulance workers preparing for action south of the Border.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “They talked about strikes in the Cobra session yesterday.”
Instead, much of the Cabinet’s conversations centred on plans for the King’s coronation in May.
A separate YouGov poll ranking approval ratings for RMT general-secretary Mick Lynch and other political figures this week found a mixed picture.
While Lynch enjoys a positive rating in London, with a +8 approval ranking, he is more divisive in Scotland – with 25% backing him, and 26% finding him unfavourable. Nearly half of those polled in Scotland did not know if he was a favourable or unfavourable figure.
Several Conservative ministers recorded a very poor approval rating in Scotland, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman scoring -42, Dominic Raab at -61, Jeremy Hunt at -57 and Rishi Sunak at -40.
