Britain is braced for the biggest spell of strikes for a generation. The Unite, Unison and the GMB unions are expected to announce they will ballot their members soon. This will likely happen after a debate at the TUC Congress in London where unions are poised to attack the Coalition over its proposed reforms on public sector pensions. Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister heading negotiations for the Government on pension reform, said he was not trying to provoke unions into striking.