Cameron can put his moment of madness behind him by breaking UNITE's petrol strike

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The UNITE union (biggest donors to the Labour party) are threatening to hold the country to ransom ostensibly because of 'elf and safety, but really because they feel £45k isn't a good enough salary for a tanker driver.

Let's get the army driving those tankers, and break UNITE/McCluskey's bully boy tactics - the public will be foursquare behind you, Mr Cameron, and it will leave Red Ed dithering unable to answer the simple question: whose side are you on?

It is not the union and McCluskey, it is the workers who have voted for this. I would like to know why they have decided on this course. I don't think they will have done so lightly.

claig It is UNITE that has provoked, organised and funded the strike. It is McCluskey who appears as the media spokesman. It is Red Ed who refuses to condemn.

I am not particularly concerned about the feelings of the truck driver on £45k aggrieved with their lot in life. Bring in the army, keep the forecourts flowing, and break the union and the Labour party.

I think it can be a dangerous job. You can't keep the army driving the tankers forever. At some point a deal must be reached. I don't care if tehy earn £45K. They often work through the night and it can be dangerous.

If environmental sustainability officers in councils can earn £35K, then I think tanker drivers deserve what they earn.

If environmental sustainability officers went on strike, no one would notice. Tanker drivers do a more important job for the nation.

How many tankers do the military own?

Or are they going to have to requisition civvie ones?

Noamount of strike-breaking will put me on scameron's side, I'm afraid.

Noamount of strike-breaking will put me on scameron's side, I'm afraid.

do you have any idea what they do for a job?

i'm backing the unions 100%

OracleInaCoracle Yes, but fortunately Cameron doesn't have to pander to you or to the Ocado-shopping champagne socialist demographic which exemplifies Mumsnet more generally. He needs to win over lower to middle earning floating voters - conveniently, those who will be hit hardest by the UNITE strike, and even more conveniently, the same voters who Red Ed desperately wants. I don't think this group will have a huge amount of sympathy for the tanker drivers.

Hahaha care to make more generalisations? Dh works ft on a low income, I work pt min wage (that was labour) we live in a HA house, shop at asda and drink beer or tea. Off that high horse, its obviously clouding your judgment.

You are dull.

I am a lower earner...and I back the strike and the drivers' all the way.

Can I just say something?

It is not just the fecking Army who will be called in to drive the tankers, it will be the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. It really annoys me, that on the whole on MN and in the media as soon as someone says military, everyone says Army!

On another point, I am quite angry about it. The Armed Forces are stretched to the max, they are expected to man the Olympics and now they will be driving fucking petrol tankers. Many of those men and women who will be stepping in will be earning far less than the £45k that the tanker drivers earn, and they do a far more dangerous job than them!

Cameron's single biggest political mistake to date has been to try to pander to the Guardian/BBC instead of to the Mail/Sun. Every time he has done this - for example, vetoing the EU, or capping benefits - he has experienced an uptick in popularity.

You would have thought he had learnt his lesson, but no, for some inexplicable reason, he somehow craves approval and seeks sanction from the Polly Toynbees and Will Huttons of this world. He should denounce them as the evil monsters they are, and get on with the very important work of remounding the country so it is more conservative, more independent, more free.

hahahahahaha i think cameron fucked over the lower - middle classes a long time ago...

but no, for some inexplicable reason, he somehow craves approval and seeks sanction from the Polly Toynbees and Will Huttons of this world. He should denounce them as the evil monsters they are, and get on with the very important work of remounding the country so it is more conservative, more independent, more free.

but no, for some inexplicable reason, he somehow craves approval and seeks sanction from the Polly Toynbees and Will Huttons of this world. He should denounce them as the evil monsters they are, and get on with the very important work of remounding the country so it is more conservative, more independent, more free.

Mail and Sun readers are ordinary workers earning ordinary wages. They don't on the whole earn what Guardian journalists, bankers and lawyers earn. I'm not so sure that they will be against the drivers. Lots of Sun readers are delivery drivers and their sympathies will probably be with the tanker drivers.

Petrol strike you say? About bloody time.

claig I disagree. I think Mail and Sun readers, on the whole, are a no nonsense bunch who expect Cameron to act firmly, and not to repeat Blair's mistakes of 2000. I hope Cameron has the gumption.

Ahh, lfn - your faith i parliamentary democracy is touching, given your support for a 'Prime Minister' leading a Coalition govt that nobody voted for, enacting policies that were in no manifesto, in fact quite the opposite (There will be no top down reorganisation of the NHS - ring any bells?)
If you don't like the policies of Unite, you can join and vote to change the policies and the leader. You can opt out of the political levy, too. It's a democratic organisation.
Can't say the same for the system funding the Tories - kitchen suppers, donor companies purporting to be from Lichtenstein (illegal) told they can influence policy; tax cuts for millionairess paid for by cuts to Women's Aid refuges, etc.
Who voted for that? Where does their money c ome from?

I meant it will be RAF, RN and Army, not just Army.

Genuine question, what about mirror readers? You know, typically left wing, low income members of the public. Should he listen to them too? Or is the right always right?

Genuine question, what about mirror readers? You know, typically left wing, low income members of the public. Should he listen to them too? Or is the right always right?

They are a "no nonsense bunch" most certainly.But Cameron has to remain popular with the public. It seems that some of the dispute is due to contracting out of driving and cost savings etc. The whole country knows about that, except environmental officers etc. If the economy suffers due to fuel shortages etc., who will the Mail and Sun readers blame - the 2000 odd drivers or the employers and possibly government if they don't sort it out quickly?

I'm disabled so I rely on the car for all transport. Still support the tanker drivers.
Don't support Miliband, he's a wet weekend - support TUSC - does what it says on the tin - fights the cuts, fights the Tories.