Another day, another shadow cabinet minister dodging the simple question: do you support the strikes? Today it was Angela Rayner’s turn, after the RMT last night voted to derail Christmas with more strikes over the next few weeks. Asked by Kay Burley if she supported the move and all the chaos it will inflict, an unusually coy Rayner trotted out Labour’s refrain:

“I think the RMT don’t want to take action. I want to see that strike action avoided… I don’t want to see industrial action because I see workers losing their pay and I see the public inconvenienced. I think there’s a way of us getting around the table and stopping it…”

“Inconvenienced” here means a £1.7 billion hit to the economy and thousands of family Christmas plans thrown out the window. Rayner also claimed, “We don’t have industrial action in Wales”. Almost true… apart from the thousands of striking nurses and ambulance workers.