WHEN England’s junior doctors began their series of all-out strikes in April, they were supported by a majority of the public. It would be interesting to know if that still held true today.

This was a dispute that was supposed to have been resolved when the leaders of the British Medical Association accepted the terms of a compromise that was agreed in May after a series of talks with the Government.

However, BMA members yesterday voted to reject the deal, by a margin of 58 per cent to 42 per cent, which has raised the possibility of more strikes stretching into the autumn.

Clearly, the country’s junior doctors still feel aggrieved about the potential imposition of a new contract encompassing basic pay and the requirements of weekend working.

But the BMA’s junior doctor leader, Johann Malawana, and the union negotiators who brokered the deal at ACAS all recommended that junior doctors should accept the deal so it is hard to see what will be gained by continuing to hold out.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has promised to “consider” yesterday’s vote, but with the process of introducing the new contract already having begun, the Government will almost certainly press ahead with its plans.

New rotas are due to start for 6,000 newlyqualified doctors in August, with the new pay system due to kick in later in the year.

Junior doctors must now decide whether to accept the deal despite yesterday’s vote or continue with their industrial action even though the wider political and economic climate has been altered in the wake of the Brexit vote.

No one is disputing their right to fight their corner, and no one is denying the validity of some of their concerns.

But backing down now would not be a sign of weakness. Instead, it would be a powerful endorsement of the depth of junior doctors’ commitment to making the NHS work.