Public sector strike rallies staged across UK- as reported by the BBC
Unions accuse the government of failing to participate in proper negotiations in recent weeks, a claim rejected by ministersTens of thousands of people have joined rallies around the UK as a public sector strike over pensions disrupted schools, hospitals and other services.
About two thirds of state schools shut, and thousands of hospital operations were postponed, as unions estimated up to two million people went on strike.
But Prime Minister David Cameron described the action as a "damp squib".
Unions object to government plans to make their members pay more and work longer to earn their pensions.
The strike has had the following effects:
- Department for Education figures suggest 62% of England's 21,700 state schools were closed, with another 14% partly shut
- In Scotland 98% of the 2,700 council-run schools closed, according to local authority body Cosla, while in Wales 80% of schools were shut. In Northern Ireland, just over half of about 1,200 schools closed
- South East Coast Ambulance Service says it is only responding to "life-threatening emergencies"; London Ambulance Service tells BBC London it is "struggling", is unable to respond to many 999 calls and prioritising life-threatening cases
- NHS managers say a little fewer than 7,000 of approximately 30,000 routine operations have been cancelled or postponedacross the UK as well as tens of thousands of appointments
- BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent Norman Smithtweeted: "(Health Secretary) Andrew Lansley says patients who have ops cancelled today will still be seen within 18-week limit."
- In Northern Ireland, no bus or train services are operating
- Plane arrivals and take-offs at Britain's two biggest airports - Heathrow and Gatwick - are said to be largely unaffected with only a few cancellations of in-bound transatlantic flights to Heathrow
- The Local Government Association said about a third of England and Wales council staff were not in work, equating to about 670,000 out of 2.1 million. Unions estimate about 300,000 public sector workers are on strike in Scotland while 170,000 workers in Wales are taking action
- Just 14 job centres out of more than 900 across the UK have closed, according to the Cabinet Office
- An office in London's West End was stormed at about 15:50 GMT by a group of protesters believed to be from the Occupy London anti-capitalist campaign group
- Scotland Yard said that, as of 16:15 GMT, it had made 52 arrests for a variety of offences
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the public sector was "under attack" by the government, adding that the action was justified.
"With the scale of change the government are trying to force through, making people work much, much longer and get much, much less, that's the call people have made," he said.
Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union members who work for the UK Border Agency have gone on strike but airport sources suggested to the BBC that immigration controls were at two thirds of normal staffing levels - more than the 30-50% predicted previously.
More than 1,000 demonstrations were expected across the UKThe Immigration Services Union says 80% to 90% of staff are striking, with 22 out of 23 workers at Calais port not showing up for work and, as far as they are aware, none of their members working at Heathrow.
A UK Border Agency spokesperson said: "Early signs show our contingency plans are minimising the impact of strike action, but waiting times at some ports may still be slightly longer than normal."
A Downing Street spokesman said: "I think what it shows is that our contingency plans have been reasonably effective in mitigating the impact of the strikes.
"Obviously, there has been an impact on schools and we always knew that there would be a significant impact on schools.
"We are confident that all the essential services have been maintained throughout the day. A lot of non-urgent work was rescheduled."
Simon Walker, of the Institute of Directors, told the BBC News Channel the strike was doing "significant damage" to the economy.
"If you're damaging the productive capacity of this country you're really doing huge damage to the fabric of the economy and that will last a long time and impact on all of us," he said.
