You know how they often repeat that phrase “since records began”? And the records only began seven years ago?

Well, this is a real “when records began”, the number of strikes in the UK is the lowest on record, and the records began in 1891.

Last year in all of Britain, where there are 60 million people, there were only 79 stoppages involving 33,000 people.

And the reason I raise this is, of course, business confidence in this country is slipping. There seems to be this disconnect between the economic reality of this country and what business is feeling.

Business confidence is going down, and it’s showing no signs of stopping.

And we’re all going “well hold on here, how come everyone is so miserable if the economy is going so well?”

My suspicion is it’s the industrial landscape, which is only going to get worse in this country.

We have workplace reform coming, which business genuinely fears.

Last year, for example, we had six work stoppages.

Only six, involving 421 employees.

The year before that, in 2016, there were only three stoppages involving 430 workers.

Now, this gets blown out of the water the moment the nurses go on strike. This gets blown out of the water when the teachers go on strike. This gets blown out of the water when Event Cinema’s staff go on strike.

So people like Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern can wander around business conferences until their blue in the face saying “believe me, believe me, believe me. We understand what business wants.”

The truth is they don’t, and it’s all coming home to roost.