It will be women who feel the impact of Tube strikes most

As any seasoned Londoner will know, Tube strikes are just as much part of the fabric of city life as the London Underground itself.

- EMMA CLARKE

At first, we were told the latest swathe of strikes had been called off – except for Thursday. Oh, and Tuesday. Can anyone keep up? It’s surely no surprise that as the negotiations rumble on, public support wanes – I know I have lost sympathy for it all now, after more than 10 years living in the capital. It is a racket.

But it’s not just the inconvenience of it all – though it is hideously, achingly inconvenient. It seems like a million years ago, but before the pandemic (when everyone was expected in the office five days a week and “WFH” simply didn’t exist), I vividly remember the pain of squeezing onto cramped buses first thing in the morning because of yet more industrial action. I have flashbacks of the driver inexplicably kicking everyone off miles away from the final destination and hundreds of commuters weaving and jostling through Oxford Street like salmon.