Public more supportive of nurses’ strikes after health secretary’s legal action, poll shows

Exclusive: NHS faces further strike action from tens of thousands of radiographers in pay vote aftermath - but the public say their backing of NHS walkouts has only grown

The public is more supportive of nurses’ strikes following the Health Secretary’s legal action against them, a new poll suggests.

The poll, asking whether the high court battle launched by Tory MP Steven Barclay against the Royal College of Nursing over “unlawful” industrial action, found 49 per cent of respondents said it had increased their support for the walkouts.

Just 12 per cent of the 2,274 people quizzed by pollsters Savanata for The Independent said the legal action had led to a decrease in their support for the strikes. A further 34 per cent said it neither increased nor decreased their support and 5 per cent did not know.