FEW who remember the darkest days of the 1970s would welcome the return of power blackouts, endless strikes and the Winter of Discontent.

But in the strongest warning yet of what might ensue should far-Left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn get into Downing Street, a leading Conservative has told of the anarchy the country would face from militants.

Tory Party chairman Brandon Lewis said: “Corbyn taking charge of the country would see it run into the ground.

“After years of being bankrolled by union barons, the Labour Party would be at their beck and call, meaning chaos for working people.

“All Corbyn and his union friends offer are failed ideas that didn’t work in the past and would leave working families paying the price with higher taxes, more debt and fewer jobs.”

Mr Corbyn wants to give unions the right to take “sympathy” action in support of strikers abroad, raising the spectre of wildcat walkouts that would cripple railways, airports, schools and hospitals.

Senior Tories also predict the return of flying pickets and long-running union disputes if the Labour leader makes it into No10.

They sounded the alert as rail workers planned a New Year of disruption at two train companies — South Western Railway and Arriva Rail North.

Unions have bankrolled Labour to the tune of £27million since Mr Corbyn became leader and now have more influence than ever over policy.

Leftie cheerleader Len McCluskey’s giant Unite union has pumped more than £13.6million into party coffers, according to Electoral Commission figures.

Many of his ideas, including massive spending splurges on nationalisation, have become official Labour policy.

The GMB, Unison, RMT, Aslef and Communications Workers Union have also put in vast sums. Their demands include taking railways and public utilities back into public ownership.

Payback time for the “brothers” will come if Labour wins power — and carries out its promise to create a new legal “right to strike”.

Mr Corbyn would make it easier and quicker for workers to stage walk-outs by scrapping the Trade Union Act, which requires a 50 per cent turn-out in strike ballots and gives bosses at least two weeks’
notice of any action.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has told union leaders he has drawn up a “blueprint” for a revision of workers’ rights should Labour form a government, including the right to stage sympathy strikes.

Worried bosses fear it is a recipe for chaos, turning the clock back to the days when workers could down tools at the drop of a hat.

Last year there were only 79 stoppages in the UK, the lowest figure in more than a century.

But there were enough strikes around the globe last year to trigger a major stoppage in the UK EVERY MONTH had sympathy strikes been lawful during 2018.

According to new analysis by the International Labour Organisation, there were 5,830 strikes in hospitals, public transport and air traffic control somewhere in the world.

Tories say that had Labour been in power, British doctors, nurses, teachers, airline pilots and public transport workers could have walked out at a range of different points during 2018.

Such a move would bring the country to its knees and the costs would be crippling. A recent three-day strike at Southern Rail was estimated to have cost £135million.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Elizabeth Truss said: “This is further proof Labour would undermine everything that has made our country successful.

“They are anti-aspiration, anti-enterprise and anti-worker.

“Instead of focusing on what matters, such as growing the economy, creating jobs and boosting wages, John McDonnell would bring Britain to its knees with permanent strikes disrupting travel, schools and the NHS.”

Labour is also committed to a return to sector-wide collective bargaining, which could herald the return of national strikes on railways or schools. The party has welcomed a “manifesto for labour law” compiled by the Institute of Employment Rights think-tank, but it has not yet been officially agreed as party policy.

And Mr McDonnell believes Labour should “automatically” support all strikes that are taken by trade unions.

Tories claim this will give more muscle to militant unions to bring Britain to its knees in support of pay and conditions claims.

But Mr McDonnell insists: “Our programme of workplace reform will restore the balance between employer and worker, and it will do so by installing basic trade union rights in law again.

A Labour government will transform the world of work, providing security, decent pay and equal rights for people from day one, including sick pay, holiday pay and protection against unfair dismissal.

“We will introduce a new Ministry of Labour to give workers a voice in Parliament, sectoral collective bargaining to raise wages and conditions, and repeal dangerous anti-trade union laws.”

Last night, a Labour spokesman said: “Under the Tories, trade unions have been relentlessly attacked and, as a result, workers have lost out.

Labour is proud of its strong and historic links with the trade union movement, which represents millions of workers in Britain.

“Labour is committed to scrapping the draconian Trade Union Act to restore trade union rights and hand more power to workers.”

Former International Development Secretary Priti Patel said: “Hard- working British people should be fearful of the extreme left-wing and militant trade union interests that dominate the Labour Party.

“Under Corbyn and McDonnell, our country would face a campaign of blackmail, strikes and industrial action, crippling our economy and putting jobs and livelihoods at risk.

“Private property would be threatened, taxes would go up and we would face a crisis worse than the Winter of Discontent.

“Their support and sympathies for terrorists and foreign regimes that oppose our way of life puts our national security at risk, and they would undermine our police, security services and Armed Forces.

“At a time when we need to fulfil our potential as a free-enterprise, global-trading nation, Labour and their trade union paymasters would wreck our country in pursuit of their morally bankrupt vision of socialism.