A wave of strikes and high pay deals could fuel inflation

This could wipe out bin collections and other services.

Alarming though this will be for residents, it reflects a much deeper crisis in Britain and many other countries.

A cost of living crisis has unfolded. It is most likely to affect the poor.

The reasons for the problems are many, and range from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine.

But a new and sudden threat has arisen - that of inflation.

We had almost forgotten inflation. Indeed people under the age of 50 have no real memory of it.

But in the 1970s it was running at times over 20%.

This causes massive economic problems, including general instability.

One of its worst impacts is the way in which it wipes out the debts of people who borrow excessively while also wiping out the savings of prudent people who put money away.

It is entirely understandable that employees across this country and beyond are worried about the cost of living.

It is right that they are demanding fair pay settlements.

But we need also to be clear that a wave of strike actions and high pay bargains could fuel inflation further and cause huge problems down the line. This is not the fault of any one council or its workers — it is a much wider difficulty.