Government involvement in rail strike talks would 'confuse things', claims Minister

The RMT invited Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Transport Secretary Simon Clarke to participate in talks last week after claiming the Treasury was "calling the shots" behind the scenes by not allowing rail employers to reach a negotiated settlement with the union.

Labour has also urged the Government to take a direct role in the talks - a call supported on Sunday by Tory MP Jake Berry.

But asked on Monday morning if the Government should be part of the talks because of its role in setting the negotiating mandate, Treasury chief secretary Simon Clarke told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Ultimately, it will only confuse things if we add a third party to these negotiations.

“The train operating companies and Network Rail are working to deliver a sensible programme of reform and a sensible and fair pay deal with the trade unions.”

He added: “The practices that are in place across the network are out with the ark, frankly, and need to be reformed.

“It cannot be the case that we have put in £16 billion during the pandemic as taxpayers, worth £600 per household, and still have a railway system where some of what goes on occurs and where, frankly, fares are higher than they need to be and efficiency is lower than it should be because of the way the trade unions operate.”

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said the Government is “hobbling” talks between unions and rail operators.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Haigh said the Government has not set a negotiating mandate.

“At the moment, without the Government there the negotiations are a sham,” she said.

“It’s not possible for them to find a resolution and avoid the dispute without the Government being represented at the talks, setting a mandate for the train operators and providing genuine scope in order to find a resolution.

“Without them there, it’s impossible for them to find a way forward and, therefore, it is inevitable that industrial action will happen.”

Challenged that the Government is not a party in the negotiations, Ms Haigh said: “The Department of Transport are a party because they set the negotiating mandate for the train operating companies and they have so far refused to do that, so not only are they boycotting the talks, they’re actually hobbling them and therefore that’s why it is imperative that they step in.”

Tim Shoveller, managing director of Network Rail’s north west and central region, said the company is “absolutely committed” to finding a solution to the pay dispute with workers.

He said: “We are absolutely committed to trying to find a way through this.

“As always, this is about how we can make the railway more efficient to generate the funds so that we can make the pay awards that our colleagues want.”

Asked if Network Rail is willing to see the dispute run throughout the summer, he said: “I think it would be a disaster for the country. It would be a disaster for our passengers and, look, really bad for our employees, who would lose loads of money by having a long, drawn-out strike – that really is the worst place we can get to.

“At the end of the day, the facts about the support the Government’s provided in terms of the £16 billion through Covid, etc – all of those are well-known and documented.

“It’s a tragedy that the union have brought the strike action around so quickly because one day there will be a resolution to this, it will only come through talking and the fact is that the strike action really doesn’t help that, in fact, it only makes it so much worse.”

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