These reckless, irresponsible strikes

The Tube strike, by members of the RMT and TSSA unions, will be a major inconvenience. The Fire Brigades Union's two-day strike over Bonfire Night, however, is potentially more serious — and irresponsible.

The Tube strike, over 800 jobs being cut in ticket offices and back-office functions, is at the same impasse it has been at since the first 24-hour strike in September. The TSSA has now walked away from the talks but neither side has been prepared to make significant concessions.

However, London Underground's cuts will be made entirely through retirements and voluntary redundancies, and no member of staff's pay and conditions will be affected. In the current climate, and given the drop in the number of tickets sold by staff, LU's cuts are not unreasonable.

Nor do the RMT's claims about safety stand up. The union claims that the cuts will affect passengers' safety because of fewer staff being able to conduct station evacuations and the like — yet there are still going to be station staff available for such duties.

Meanwhile the FBU is striking over changes in shift patterns and job cuts. Managers and private contractors provided cover during its first one-day strike last Saturday, but there were just 49 call-outs. On November 5 last year there were 680. To strike on this of all days will seem deeply irresponsible to most Londoners.

Neither strike is necessary: these are unions digging in to defend the status quo regardless of present financial constraints. The Tube strike can only hurt London's economy as well as inconveniencing commuters; the fire brigades' strike could end with far more deadly results. In a climate of austerity, the unions have misjudged the public mood. They should call off these damaging strikes.

Green shoots

Today's economic growth figures will elicit a sigh of relief from the Chancellor, George Osborne. They show that in the third quarter of this year, GDP grew by 0.8 per cent — fairly weak, and down from the second quarter's growth of 1.2 per cent, but still better than expected.

Now the Chancellor will hope that the unexpectedly strong growth continues — or at least does not fall away completely — over the next difficult 18 months.

Elsewhere, the signs on the economy are mixed, as evidenced by the cautious welcome given by industry to today's figures. Yesterday's mortgage-lending statistics were sobering, showing net lending down and prompting fears of a new slide in property prices. But the real test will be next spring, when the public spending cuts start to translate into actual job losses in the public sector, with a resulting effect on private sector business: the risk of a double-dip recession remains real.

For the moment, though, today's figures should give ministers welcome relief from the fallout over last week's spending review — and some hope that the private sector can rescue the economy yet.

Save the arts

The Arts Council's announcement today of how it will implement its huge cuts is bad news for the arts in London. Its development fund, which supports some festivals and theatre touring, will be cut, and the Council has warned that up to 100 arts bodies could close. Every public body has to tighten its belt at present but the arts are one of London greatest draws. For ministers to order cuts this deep is short-sighted.