Doctors' strike: it's time to calm down

The escalation to an all-out strike won’t force the government to capitulate but carries obvious risks

The junior doctors’ dispute in England is a bit like the Brexit campaign, a conflict which wiser heads on both sides might best have avoided. It is now moving into dangerous territory where ever harsher words are being exchanged, words that will linger damagingly when the battle is over.

After Barack Obama’s intervention in the EU referendum the Brexiteers’ best remaining card is the widespread belief that voting to leave would be Britain’s best option for stemming the recent migration surge which puts pressure on jobs and services. It is a dangerous card to play, as more scrupulous Leave campaigners know. But desperate folk sometimes resort to desperate measures.

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