When Jeremy Hunt announced to the House of Commons that he intended to impose new contracts on the junior doctors, he was declaring war on the NHS trades unions.He had a choice. Even if we believe that he genuinely wanted to reach a negotiated settlement, as he claims, he did not need to impose anything on existing staff. He could instead have announced that all new individual contracts would only be offered on the terms of the new contract he wants to impose. That would mean any newly qualified doctors would have to decide whether to work for the NHS on those terms, or not. It would also mean any doctor who changed posts would have to accept the new terms as a condition of the move.
But instead, Jeremy Hunt decided to take the nuclear option. Why? Because he wants to send a signal to all NHS staff that, no matter how wrong-headed his policy, no matter how much the public agree with your cause, this Tory government will stand up to your demands and force you into submission.
His decision has more to do with politics than it has to do with the needs of the NHS.
Jeremy Hunt has only just started doing what he wants to do to the NHS. He has already published a pamphlet in which his privatisation agenda was explicitly set out.