The Tories’ anti-strike bill will only lead to even greater industrial upheaval | Martin Kettle

The political goals of the government’s new strikes (minimum service levels)

, unveiled this week by Grant Shapps, the business secretary, are transparent. The bill picks an entirely avoidable fight with the trade unions. It does so for two main reasons, and neither has much to do with the need to bring the current industrial disputes to either a fair or an early end.

The first reason is to rally a still fractious Tory party more firmly…