Strike action planned by the nurses’ union on 2 May has been deemed unlawful, the High Court has ruled.

The court ruled the industrial action was not covered by the current mandate, with unions needing to hold a ballot every six months to legally hold strikes.

The upcoming walkout was challenged by Health Secretary Steve Barclay, who argued they were unlawful.

Government wins court case to stop day of nurses’ strike – politics latest

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced strike action between 8pm on 30 April and 8pm on 2 May over pay and conditions.

But Mr Barclay claimed the final day of the strike was due to fall outside the union’s six-month mandate for industrial action.

High Court judge Thomas Linden agreed with the submission from the government.

Reacting to the court’s action, Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “It’s regrettable that it had to come to court action.

“The government did not want to take this to court and did everything to avoid it.”

RCN members rejected a deal earlier this month which would have seen them given a one-off payment of 2% of their salary, plus a COVID recovery bonus of 4% for the current financial year and 5% for the year after.

This was despite a recommendation from the union’s leaders that the deal be accepted.