Grant Shapps swerves RMT invite for talks on avoiding rail strikes

Ahead of a debate in Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, rail union RMT wrote to Mr Shapps asking for a face-to-face meeting with him and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

The UK’s railways will run only skeleton services for three days on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday next week, when workers from Network Rail and 13 train operating companies strike in a row over pay and job losses.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch claimed has the Treasury is “calling the shots” over negotiations and is not allowing rail employers to reach a negotiated settlement with the union. Mr Lynch said: “In effect in recent weeks the union has been negotiating with the government, but the government have not been in the room.”

The letter was brought up in the Parliamentary debate by Labour MP and former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.

He said to Mr Shapps: “Mick Lynch, the general secretary of RMT, has written to him today and he has said this: ‘I am writing to seek an urgent meeting with the Government without any preconditions to discuss the national rail dispute prior to the planned strike action next week, and I would be grateful if this could be arranged without delay’.

“Could he respond – we are trying to resolve this matter – could he respond immediately to Mick Lynch positively that he will meet the union now?”

Mr Shapps replied that Mr McDonnell had received £25,000 from the RMT in donations, adding: “I welcome – if it is indeed – a change of heart from Mick Lynch, who as I already quoted, just a month ago said that he would not meet with a Tory Government.”

But he added: “Ministers have and do meet with him but these negotiations are a matter between the employer and the union, and the employer is meeting with the union every single day and that is indeed the best way to get this resolved.”

Mr Shapps later said: “This red herring that the unions haven’t had anybody to talk to is complete and utter nonsense. They are talking to their employers, they didn’t care about those discussions, they just called the strikes instead.”

Shadow Transport Secretary and Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh said Mr Shapps has not held a single meeting with both the unions and the industry for over two months to prevent the strikes going ahead.

“No one in the country wants these strikes to go ahead. As we have heard, they will be a disaster for workers, passengers, the economy, and the rail industry.

“But the good news is that at this stage, they are not inevitable, and the dispute can still be resolved.

“The bad news is that it requires ministers on this side to step up and show leadership to get employers and the unions around the table and address the real issues – on pay and cuts to safety and maintenance staff – behind the disputes.

“Yet rather than demonstrating any responsibility, the only action this Government has taken so far is to send a petition to the official Opposition.”

Government tactics 'from P&O playbook'

Louise Haigh accused the Government of being a “bunch of arsonists” who are fuelling the rail dispute.

The shadow transport secretary highlighted the move by P&O Ferries to replace 800 seafarers with agency staff, and contrasted it to moves by Grant Shapps to consider letting agency workers cover for striking rail staff.

She told the Commons: “The reality is he’s acting directly from P&O’s playbook – the only difference is he wants to make it legal.”

Mr Shapps said: “We want to see the Labour Party, despite them being bankrolled by the unions, standing up to these union barons rather than bringing the railways to their knees.”

At The Yorkshire Post, we are committed to speaking truth to power on behalf of the people who call God’s Own County their home. Our political team and Westminster Correspondent are Yorkshire's eyes and ears in the corridors of power.

If you’d like all the latest political news straight to your inbox, you can sign up to our newsletter for free at: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/newsletter