Strike will cost Labour seats, says fire union Tommy Sheridan, leader of the Scottish Socialist party, said old Labour voters were applying to join the SSP in their hundreds since the fire strikes began with a "Niagara-like" torrent of applications not just from disgruntled firefighters but also from ordinary voters disillusioned at the government's tactics.

Pointing to how the GMB and RMT unions had already cut their donations to Labour, the Glasgow MSP added: "Divorce proceedings have begun . . . The unions see Labour as a party that panders to and protects the millionaires instead of the millions."