Tory MP Jake Berry urges Grant Shapps to negotiate with unions over stopping rail strike

Mr Berry, who is chair of the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs, made the call for the Government to "get around the table" in the dispute as he appeared on Times Radio this morning.

His stance goes against the Government's current position on the issue, where Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has refused an invitation from the RMT to become involved in talks on the grounds that the dispute is a matter for train companies and staff to settle.

But Mr Berry said the Government should be negotiating with trade unions to resolve their pay dispute amid planned rail strikes.

He told Times Radio: “By training I’m a lawyer and I can tell you that the only way out of a dispute is via negotiation.

“I call on all parties including the Government to get around the table because it’s going to have a huge negative impact on people’s lives.

“I actually just think it’s really cruel as the country comes out of a really horrible period, to stop people reconnecting with their relatives, I just think is a deeply cruel and selfish thing to do.”

Mr Berry's intervention against the Government comes just two days after Boris Johnson cancelled his appearance at the Northern Research Group's conference in Doncaster to instead travel to Ukraine.

When asked to clarify that he thought the Government should be joining negotiations with unions, Mr Berry said: “Absolutely. I mean, what’s the alternative?

“The only way this will be sorted out is by people sitting down and sorting this out.

“I represent a constituency with low wages. I understand that people on low wages need a pay rise, including not just in our public services, our NHS and on the railways, but in the private sector as well.

“I think what is called for in this crisis is for people who are relatively highly-paid including Members of Parliament to show absolute restraint – we have broad shoulders – and to prioritise those on the lowest wages who are really struggling to get a decent pay rise.

“I think that would be the right approach for Government to take. I’ll make my case from the back benches.”

Mr Berry's remarks were backed by Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh. She said on Twitter: "He’s right. Even Tory MPs can see the only way to sort this out is for Grant Shapps to stop boycotting the talks and get around the table."

Earlier today, Mr Shapps dismissed a call from the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union for the Government to intervene as a “stunt”, saying the union had been “gunning” for industrial action for weeks. The RMT has claimed the Treasury is “calling the shots” over negotiations and is not allowing rail employers to reach a negotiated settlement with the union.

The Transport Secretary said: “The trade unions know that only the trade union and the employer can settle this. I will not cut across that. I will not undermine the employer’s works.

“This is a stunt at the 11th hour by the union, suddenly coming forward and saying ‘We need to negotiate with the Government now’ even though this last month they told me they wouldn’t be seen dead negotiating with the Government.”

On Saturday, the RMT confirmed that strikes at Network Rail and 13 train operators will go ahead on Tuesday, Thursday and next Saturday, and on London Underground on Tuesday.

General secretary Mick Lynch said the union had no choice but to act after the train operators had still not made a pay offer when talks adjourned on Thursday.

“What else are we to do? Are we to plead? Are we to beg? We want to bargain for our futures. We want to negotiate,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.

Mr Shapps, however, said the union had been “gunning” for industrial action for weeks and accused it of “punishing” millions of “innocent people” who will be affected by the strikes.

“Of course, it is a reality that if we can’t get these railways modernised, if we can’t get the kind of efficiency that will mean that they can work on behalf of the travelling public, then of course it is jeopardising the future of the railway itself,” he told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.

“I think it is a huge act of self-harm to go on strike at the moment. I don’t believe the workers are anywhere near as militant as their unions who are leading them up the garden path. They are gunning for this strike. It is completely unnecessary.

“There is a sensible pay deal, there is a sensible modernisation of the railway which would enable much more flexibility, but the unions need to understand the world has changed and people don’t necessarily need to travel in the way they did in the past.”

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