Teachers, train drivers, and civil servants are among the hundreds of thousands of workers across the UK walking out today.
Today is being described as the “biggest” day of strike action for more than a decade.
After what has been a turbulent time in recent months, with sectors ranging from nursing and paramedics, to rail, postal, border force, and more all staging differing forms of continued industrial action over pay and working conditions, it’s estimated that around 85% of schools in England and Wales will be fully or partially closed today due to teacher strikes.
As many as 300,000 teachers, who are members of the National Education Union (NEU), are staging walkouts today, with around 23,000 schools in the two nations set to be affected.
Across the country newspapers are landing with this advert in it as 300,000 teachers go on strike today across 24,000 schools. We don’t want to be on strike but we have no choice but to try and #SaveOurSchoolspic.twitter.com/aMC7rWM9WZ
Parents, carers, and guardians of school-aged children facing varying levels of disruption as a result.
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Teachers are striking for a pay rise to be above inflation, and are asking for the UK government to fund the pay rise, instead of it coming from existing school budgets.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has previously called the teachers strikes “deeply disappointing”, and claimed that the government has met teaching unions’ requests for an extra £2 billion in school funding in England.
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But these comments have been widely criticised by opposition, and deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has even accused the government of deliberately stoking the conflict.
Teachers taking part in picket lines across the UK on today’s day of industrial action / Credit: NEU (via Twitter)
Aside from the teacher strikes, industrial action is also taking place in several other sectors.
Today is the first of two days of strike action by train drivers from the ASLEF and RMT unions in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, while university lecturers and bus drivers are also staging walk-outs today too.
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Civil servants are also staging walk-outs today, with around 123 government departments prepared to be disrupted by industrial action.
ASLEF has rejected a proposal made by the RDG as it is not and could not ever be acceptable, but we are willing to engage in further discussions within the process that we previously agreed.
Members at 15 train companies will take further strike action on 1 & 3 February.
Overall, it’s estimated that about 500,000 workers from all the different sectors mentioned are taking part in walkouts today, according to the Trades Union Congress, which would officially make it the “biggest” day of strike action in more than a decade.
The government has conceded in a statement addressing the mass strike action that today will be “very difficult” for the public.
Featured Image – Northern | MChee Lee (via Unsplash)
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Teen sentenced after deliberately driving into a female police officer in Stockport
Emily Sergeant
A teen who deliberately drove into a female police officer at a retail park Stockport earlier this year has been sentenced.
Harvey Bell was at a retail park on Wilmslow Road in Cheadle back on 25 January 2025 when he seriously injured a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer during a shocking incident – which left the officer requiring hospital treatment.
At the time, the 19-year-old from Knutsford was present while police were investigating reports of class C drug use in a car park.
Police parked in front of an Audi and the officer signalled for Bell to remain stationary and turn the engine off, but instead he reversed, and as the officer approached the front windscreen, Bell drove at the officer, knocking her to the ground.
He then proceeded to drive over her legs with both sets of wheels, before heading out of the car park at speed.
#JAILED | A man who deliberately drove into a police officer in Stockport has been jailed.
Harvey Bell (12/08/2005) has been sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute and was disqualified from driving for two years.
— Stockport Police (GMP) (@GMPStockport) June 4, 2025
Bell was subsequently arrested the following day and made no comment in his police interview, but then went on to plead guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, as well as possession of cannabis on 27 March 2025.
The teen appeared at Manchester Crown Court this week where he was sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute, and was also disqualified from driving for two years – which will take effect when he is released.
“What [Bell] did to me is permanently in the back of my mind, every call I go to, I feel the apprehension, the fear that any incident, no matter how innocuous it appears, can end with being assaulted or hurt,” the officer explained in a powerful victim impact statement read in court.
“This is an unseen result of Bell’s assault on me.”
She continued: “I know that Bell’s abhorrent behaviour is an exception, and the majority of the public we serve do not wish us harm, but assaults on police need to stop. An attack on a police officer is an attack on us all.
“Bell is a danger to society and had total disregard for my life.”
Featured Image – GMP
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IKEA announces decision to close popular Greater Manchester site
Emily Sergeant
It’s the end of the road for one of IKEA’s popular Greater Manchester sites.
The Swedish furniture giant has announced its decision to close its ‘Plan and Order Point’ over in Stockport in a couple of weeks time.
The store – which is located in Stockport town centre’s Merseyway Shopping Centre – launched to huge success back in March 2023, and at the time, was the second of this ‘test and trial’ format to open in the UK, becoming a smaller space dedicated to kitchen and home planning, as well as ordering items.
IKEA says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ which plan to take this conceptual format in a direction to ‘better suit the needs of UK customers’.
IKEA is closing its close popular Stockport site this month / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)
Since the opening of the Stockport Plan and Order Point, IKEA claims it has seen an increased demand for Click and Collect services, a desire by customers to shop a smaller selection of home furnishing accessories, as well as the ability to return goods to physical IKEA units, and this is all something which the current location is unable to offer.
Learning from this change in consumer habits, the company says its future Plan and Order Point openings – including in those in other northern cities like Hull and York – will offer these services.
IKEA says it also remains ‘committed’ to trialling new formats, such as its upcoming small stores, one of which will open in nearby Chester later this year.
Luckily for IKEA fans, the retailer has confirmed that its major Greater Manchester store in Ashton-under-Lyne, as well as the neighbouring store in Warrington, will remain open as normal, offering all the services available at Stockport and more.
The Swedish furniture says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ about customer needs / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)
In addition to the upcoming opening of a smaller store in Chester, IKEA has revealed that the North West continues to be an area of interest for future expansion.
“After careful evaluation, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the IKEA Plan and Order Point at Merseyway Shopping Centre,” explained Salma Azad, who is one of IKEA’s Area Managers.
“In the two years since opening, we’ve taken valuable learnings, including how our customers prefer to meet IKEA, and we’ll take these insights into future openings, to serve shoppers in a more impactful way.”
Thanks to last year’s Click and Collect expansion, Stockport residents can now pick up purchases from Tesco Extra Stockport and Tesco Extra Stretford, as well as the Manchester store and the upcoming small store in Chester.
Stockport Plan and Order Point’s final day of trading will be on 16 June.
Emily Sergeant -
1st February 2023 
