Negotiating a settlement with the rail unions would be a show of political leadership - The Yorkshire Post says

The Government will no doubt have an eye on the next election as it undergoes the huge task of trying to rebuild trust with the electorate in the face of dire opinion polls.

Negotiating a settlement with the rail unions would be a show of strong political leadership that will only bode well for the Tories.

Widespread industrial action has hit the country in recent months in professions ranging from nursing to barristers. There is an overwhelming sense of the country being broken. And the Government needs to come up with solutions.

There has been some hope for those ordinary people who have been suffering the misery of chaos on railways due to ongoing strikes.

With the chief negotiator for Network Rail, the state-owned company which runs Britain's rail infrastructure, Tim Shoveller saying that a deal was “within touching distance”.

Once the Government has come around the table with serious proposals and stops putting out stumbling blocks such as driver only operation clauses, the unions must be willing to compromise.

Ideology needs to be set aside to enable people to get around the country again. Commuters have already suffered enough.

The Transport Secretary Mark Harper’s reassurances that more negotiations over the rail strikes will take place next week are welcome but during these negotiations he must remember that commuters have had to suffer months of disruption.

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, right to say: “The railways are a vital part of the economy and they are a vital part of the solution to the environmental crisis we have got.”