Life on Tapp: Goodwill for health workers and teachers remains strong

Blaise Tapp writes: We haven’t forgotten what the NHS did for this country three years ago during a period of unprecedented crisis.

And I bet that many, if asked to do so, would probably stand on doorsteps and clap and bang saucepans as a show of appreciation once again.

Same goes for the teachers as those of us with school age children benefit from the dedication of staff who, with one arm tied behind their backs most of the time, do a fine job.

The unions representing teachers and NHS staff have played a blinder and have managed to retain the support from people like me, who don’t know the words to The Red Flag or have ever owned a poster of Che Guevara.

I’m not on my own - according to polling by YouGov, roughly two thirds of the population say they support nurses going on strike, with nearly seven in 10 supporting ambulance staff. More people say they support teachers than those who don’t.

One of the main reasons why these unions have retained a lot of support is that they’ve not left the nation high and dry - hospitals have remained open to those who really need them and ambulances have been dispatched to those in the greatest of need.

NHS bosses have reported that, so far, the public demand for health service on strike days has been lower than normal.

The same goes for schools - in my own personal experience, headteachers and their teams ensured that selected year groups and pupils with the greatest of need could go into classrooms during last week’s first strike.

Nobody knows how long the goodwill is going to last for but everybody deserves good public services and, right now, this is not guaranteed.

I hope that nurses, ambulance staff and teachers get what they are asking for and pray that the public doesn’t turn against them. They don’t deserve that.