Asked why he robbed banks, an apocryphal serial robber was said to have replied, “because that’s where the money is”. A similar logic is on offer in the splurge of cash committed by the Government to resolve public sector strikes which dogged the last government.

These strikes had been hurting the economy, and so the short-term problem has been solved with money – the quickest and easiest way to end any negotiation. Labour’s longer-term approach to industrial unrest and pay demands, however, looks murky.

Train drivers are the latest recipients of a settlement which is valued at 14 per cent over three years, with the Aslef union content enough to recommend acceptance to its members.

That is no small relief to people planning late summer journeys or fretful about journey cancellations as they get back to work and student travel next month.

The “pay now, worry later” logic is clear: strikes are inconvenient and distressing and, in the case of junior doctors, have caused much hardship – as well as added stresses and cost – to be borne by the NHS as a whole in cancelled or postponed treatments.

Ministers duly ponied up for a 22 per cent pay deal with junior medics last month. Both of these groups have grounded their claims in the cost of living crisis and the lag in pay which has resulted in pent-up frustration among unions and their members.

For Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves, the benefit of rapid settlement is that Labour can........

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