Before we begin this podcast I'd like to tell you about a special deal.

Subscribe today to the Spectator for just 12 pounds and receive a 12 week subscription in print and online.

Along with, here's the magic bit, a free 20-pound John Lewis or Weight Trace voucher.

Go to Spectator.co. UK forward slash voucher. Hello and I'm

welcome to copy house shots. I'm James Heel and I'm joined today by Fraser Nelson and Isabel Harpoon.

Now Isabelle, I suppose the big news today this morning

is that Azlef is going on strike again just two days

after they announced the end of the national strikes

of proposing a regional strike in the coming weeks.

Tell us more about this.

Yeah, so these are train drivers at LNER who are going to strike every weekend in September and

October and then two more strikes in November.

And this is following the end to the long running dispute over train driver's pay

that has culminated in a 15% pay rise offer over three years.

And I think if you were a Tory who was trying to argue that labour is sending the message to unions, not just to train unions,

but you know junior doctors unions and wider trade unions,

then this is the perfect example that they will think that strikes work and that

protracted strikes work as well because I think this is the you know the desire of

labor ministers to come in to government and resolve this industrial action

and to say we're resetting industrial relations, whether it be with train drivers or teachers,

and we're going to treat them properly has been you

can understand why they'd want to start government off by ending long-running strikes

...