Stand firm against rail union militants

HOPES that common sense might prevail are fast evaporating. The planned series of spiteful and unnecessary rail strikes is firmly on track.

By walking out on three alternate days, militant unions will inflict a full week of misery on workers, pupils in the middle of public examinations, NHS staff and people trying to get to hospital.

The action will cost an estimated £100million in lost ticket revenue and disrupt economic activity at the worst possible time, threatening to stall our postCovid economic recovery.

But having subsidised the rail industry by £16billion in the pandemic, Network Rail, operators and ministers must stand firm.

Surrendering to demands for vast pay rises would set off a new inflationary spiral to make the current cost of living crunch seem mild.

Equally, it’s simply not tenable for staffing to remain at current levels when demand for rail travel has dropped and new technology has made many jobs redundant.

If British industry is to come through this slowdown intact, our transport network must improve and modernise. As we learned in the 1970s, union militants may disrupt progress. But they won’t stop it.