PM ‘prepared to make deal to avoid rail strike’

Boris Johnson is prepared to strike a pay deal with unions to avoid a sweeping railway strike as a new rift opens between the Prime Minister and Rishi Sunak. Senior rail industry figures say that Mr Johnson is keen for an agreement but the Treasury will not grant an exemption to lift the public sector pay cap to avoid the most serious rail strike in a generation. A rail industry source accused the Treasury of “King Canute-like behaviour” in trying to resist the demands.

BORIS JOHNSON is prepared to make a pay deal with unions to avoid a sweeping railway strike as a new rift opens between the Prime Minister and Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor.

Senior rail industry figures say that Mr Johnson is keen for an agreement but the Treasury will not grant an exemption to lift the public sector pay cap to avoid the most potent rail strike in a generation.

The disagreement has sparked a fresh row between No10 and No11, with a rail industry source accusing the Treasury of “King Canute-like behaviour” in trying to resist the demands.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union on Tuesday voted to bring train services to a halt this summer as they call for a new pay deal and resist muchneeded reforms to the railways.

The Prime Minister and Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, are understood to support rail industry proposals to offer a pay rise of about 5pc to tens of thousands of workers. This would be close to the bottom range of the RMT demands, which have ranged from 7pc to 11pc. Increases in public sector pay were capped at 3pc last month and the Treasury is aware an exemption for the railways would be likely to spark anger among nurses, doctors and teachers.

A senior rail industry source said: “Let’s just say we could settle this for 5pc. And let’s just say [the RMT] agree. But at the moment we wouldn’t be allowed to settle it – because we are breaching the 3pc [cap], even though we can fully fund it. The Prime Minister gets that. Grant Shapps gets that. There is the risk of almost King Canute-like behaviour within the Treasury.”