Cuts: now it's war

• RMT leader Bob Crow suggested that people could sit on roads to show opposition to impending cuts

UNION leaders are threatening to tackle the Government head-on with a massive campaign of co-ordinated strikes and civil disobedience to oppose looming cuts in public spending.

In incendiary comments ahead of the TUC's annual conference, one union leader warned of "a campaign of resistance the like of which we have not seen in this country for decades".

Plans could include sit-down protests on roads, mass industrial action and high-profile stunts at key public buildings.

The warnings came as the government tried to play down reports it planned to slash 2.5 billion of sickness benefit.

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TUC general secretary Brendan Barber accused the Tory-Lib Dem Government of making "eye-wateringly unfair" cuts that would "threaten services" and "risk economic recovery". He said the electorate would not stand for such swingeing reductions in public spending.

"Voters last May did not vote for a radical and permanent cutback in the scale and scope of public services," he said. "The cuts have only just started to bite. When their full extent becomes clear, I know that the country will join with us in saying 'no' once again to policies that are so eye-wateringly unfair."

The RMT transport union is asking the TUC to back calls for co-ordinated industrial action "to defend jobs, pensions and conditions".

Its general secretary, Bob Crow, said the campaign was needed to protect the welfare state. The left-wing firebrand, widely seen as the UK's most militant union leader, suggested that protesters dressed as superheroes should take part in stunts such as climbing the heights of Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street. He also proposed people could sit down on roads to highlight their opposition to cuts.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, backed the call for a co-ordinated union response to the UK Government's austerity measures. He said industrial action was "inevitable", adding that unless unions worked together to fight back, the future was "bleak".

"We are deadly serious about making alliances with all of the unions," he said and warned of "a campaign of resistance the likes of which we will not have seen in this country for decades".

Mr Serwotka went on: "Over 100,000 civil service jobs have been cut over the past six years and we are now being hit by closures and cuts even as the sword of Chancellor George Osborne hangs in the air."

The unions' warnings of action came after Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander tried to play down reports the government planned 2.5bn cuts to sickness benefit.

A leaked letter from Mr Osborne to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith spelled out details of possible cutbacks and said the Government needed to press ahead with the controversial measures.

However, Mr Alexander said things had "moved on" since the letter was written. "Yes, of course we are looking for significant savings in the welfare system," he said. "Savings that are fair, savings that encourage people to get out to work."

Mr Barber spoke out amid a widespread feeling among delegates at the TUC conference, which opens in Manchester today, that a wave of strike action is inevitable as the Tories and Lib Dems prepare to push ahead with a package of cuts. Ministers claim they must take action to tackle the 155bn budget deficit.

Mr Barber said: "I don't think the public has woken up to the scale of the cuts, but when the reality begins to emerge after the spending review, it will produce a very different reaction.

"There will be a search for alternatives to the current strategy, which we are convinced will do irreparable economic and social damage."

The TUC said the government's cuts would hit the poorest 13 times harder than rich people, showing how "unfair" they were.

It said a study showed the bottom 10 per cent of earners would suffer reductions in services equivalent to 20 per cent of their household income. In contrast, the richest 10 per cent would lose the equivalent of only 1.5 per cent from cuts planned over the next few years.

Mr Crow said workers should plan industrial action together to cause the maximum disruption.

"We should co-ordinate that resistance to defend working men and working women," he said. "What we need is . . . a campaign of civil disobedience to stop these cutbacks taking place. Maybe we need Batman climbing up 10 Downing Street, Spider-Man on Buckingham Palace as part of peaceful demonstrations of civil disobedience.

"This is an opportunity for the entire trade union movement to come together and mobilise support. Unions should also link up together because we are confronting the same enemy, otherwise they will be picked off one at a time."

Mr Crow even suggested people could sit down on roads to show their opposition to cuts.

However, a Scottish Tory MSP accused the union leaders of being out of touch with the public mood.

North East Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone said: "Mr Crow is talking like something from another century by making comments like this.

"He clearly has nothing positive or helpful to say by suggesting absurd protests like this.

"The economic problems we're facing were caused by the Labour Party and the Labour movement, which Mr Crow is a part of.

"People needed to be standing together during difficult times like these, rather than making unpleasant threats." x