Good morning – and if you’re on your way anywhere in Britain this morning and you haven’t left yet, you’d better hurry up (or cancel if you can). It’s going to take a while.
For rail workers and commuters alike, it’s a difficult day. After last-minute talks to stave off the biggest rail industrial action since 1989 failed, 40,000 members of the RMT union are forgoing their wages to strike this morning. Major disruption is expected for at least the rest of the week.
The fight over rail-workers’ pay and conditions brings together the defining upheavals of the political moment: the seismic changes wrought by the pandemic and the cost of living crisis that followed in its wake. This morning’s newsletter will help you navigate the strikes today, and explain why this is only the first phase of a crisis that’s likely to run and run. First, here are the rest of the headlines.
Five big stories
Child protection | An independent review commissioned by Oldham council has found “serious failings” by the police and the local council that left vulnerable children exposed to sexual exploitation. The report found missed opportunities to prevent abuse stretching back to 2005.
Russia | Leaked emails appear to show an informal network tied to Vladimir Putin that is holding $4.5bn (£3.7bn) in assets, including yachts, palaces and vineyards.
Travel | The chaos at UK airports intensified on Monday as easyJet cut thousands of flights over the summer to minimise the risk of disruption, while passengers at Heathrow faced cancellations caused by a “baggage mountain” .
Politics | Three Sudanese victims of torture and trafficking who were threatened with being deported to Rwanda last week have had their pleas to be released from detention rejected by a high court judge. The three now face months in detention while they wait for their trafficking cases to be concluded.
Ukraine | A Nobel Peace Prize auctioned by its recipient, Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, to raise money for Ukrainian child refugees has sold for $103.5m (£84.5m), shattering the previous record. There was shock in the auction room as the final bid came in at tens of millions over the previous offer.
In depth: long day’s journey into chaos
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What’s happening?
The rail strikes that got under way this morning will be the biggest in the UK for more than 30 years. (Here’s how the Guardian covered the last one, which ended with an 8.8% pay rise for rail workers.) As well as the 24-hour walkouts by members of the RMT union – happening today, Thursday and Saturday – a separate London Underground strike is happening in the capital today.
The RMT strike involves 40,000 signallers, maintenance and train staff working for Network Rail – which is responsible for infrastructure such as track, stations and level crossings – and 13 train operators. Here are more details on train operators’ advice for strike days. And here’s a special timetable for the duration of the strikes, as well as links for more information on each affected operator.
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How severe will the impact be?
Services started to reduce last night – but the full force of the strikes will be felt today and throughout the week. About 4,500 services will run today compared to the 20,000 that would normally be expected.
About half of all rail lines will be closed completely, and the timetable will start later and finish earlier than usual, running from 7.30 to 18.30. Services in Scotland and Wales will be severely affected despite operators not being directly involved because they rely on Network Rail staff to function.
The impact is also expected to run into Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday – non-strike days – because overnight maintenance work will not take place ahead of the usual timetable. There are knock-on effects on other forms of transport, with warnings of overcrowding on buses and greatly increased motorway traffic.
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What are my rights if my journey is affected?
Anyone whose journey is cancelled should be able to receive a refund or exchange for an alternative route – but check with the relevant train company first (here’s a helpful set of links on refund policies). Transport secretary Grant Shapps has also said that the government will make sure season ticket holders are eligible for “full compensation”.
National Rail says train companies should provide alternative means of transportation or overnight accommodation if necessary – but will not cover taxis or hotel bills; some, including GWR, are not offering rail-replacement buses. More details on all of this are available here.
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What are the strikes about?
Pay and conditions. Commuter habits which changed over lockdown have not fully returned to normal, meaning that revenues have been reduced. The industry says it needs to act to reach a “sustainable footing”.
Meanwhile, the RMT says that Network Rail is threatening to cut safety-critical jobs (Network Rail rejects that characterisation) as part of its modernisation programme, which would also include an increase in working hours. And with inflation soaring, the union is asking for a pay rise that mitigates the pain for its members. Against an inflation rate heading towards 11%, the union wants a rise of 7%, and has already rejected a Network Rail offer of a 2% rise with a further 1% tied to job cuts.
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What do the rail companies and the government say?
They argue that the railways were subsidised to the tune of £16bn during the pandemic, and that with annual running costs at £20bn and income from fares just £4bn, the union’s demands are simply not feasible. Network Rail says that modernisation is essential to keep the system on its feet, and says that, for example, the maintenance of ticket offices with very few customers when an automated option could be used instead is “frankly Victorian”.
Meanwhile, the government is making good on threats to remove some of the protections set out in law for striking workers – starting with the acceleration of plans to scrap a legal ban on using agency workers to limit the impact of future industrial action, an incendiary move.
Grant Shapps has pointed to median train-driver salaries of £59,000 as evidence that a pay deal would be unmerited. And the government has made a wider argument for pay restraint: Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said yesterday that workers must show “collective, society-wide responsibility” to “forestall the evil of inflation”.
Philip Inman has a useful piece explaining why that argument is more controversial than Clarke makes it sound - and the i has a story this morning which makes for an awkward contrast: news that Downing Street is looking to remove restrictions on City bossses’ pay to realise the “benefits of Brexit”.
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What do the unions and the opposition say?
For a sense of the level of hostilities, watch this testy Newsnight clip in which the RMT’s Mick Lynch calls minister Chris Philp a liar. The RMT points out that most train drivers are not part of this dispute – and says that the true median salary for its members is about £33,000, a figure supported by this BBC analysis.
The union says that members deserved recognition for work that “kept the country moving through the pandemic”, and argues that they are simply seeking to protect their existing terms and minimise the real-term pay cut caused by inflation.
Labour, meanwhile, has adopted a variety of positions over the strikes, and frustrated unions with its lukewarm support. Frontbenchers tend to argue that they do not want them to happen, but that they are ultimately the government’s fault. They point out that Shapps has not taken part in negotiations.
But unions and their allies within Labour were dismayed by another story that broke last night: PoliticsHome reported that Keir Starmer’s office ordered the shadow cabinet to stay away from picket lines. “To instruct Labour MPs not to be on picket lines with workers speaks volumes,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham. “It’s time to decide whose side you are on. Workers or bad bosses?”
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How long will this go on?
The strikes may go on for some time – and as the cost of living bites more widely, they will only spread across the public sector. The RMT has suggested that strikes on the railways could continue until Christmas. Train drivers represented by Aslef are also expected to strike soon – and teachers and NHS workers could take industrial action too. On Monday, criminal barristers voted to go on strike over legal aid funding, which could see them walk out from next week. (Peter Walker has a summary of some of the possible impacts.) If all that comes to pass, this week’s rail strikes may soon look like a relatively minor inconvenience.
What else we’ve been reading
In the latest Big Idea column, Farrah Jarral writes about free will, asking whether we are responsible for the things we do wrong. Drawing on her experiences as a doctor, Jarral concludes that “human dignity and hope require faith in free will, even if agency is at worst an illusion, and at best a partial explanation wreathed in caveats”. Nimo
Mujtaba Rahman argues that Emmanuel Macron, who lost his majority in Sunday’s French parliamentary elections, is facing “a period of prolonged political instability” and must now learn to compromise – a skill he has not shown in his presidency so far. Archie
Paula Cocozza spoke to Frances Day about her decision to go vegan at 82 – and the freedom that has come with it. Nimo
Anybody who watched one of the Jurassic Park movies at an impressionable age will have wondered whether dinosaurs might make a comeback. Ian Sample is sadly realistic – but his dive into real-world de-extinction projects is captivating all the same. Archie
Heat waves might remind you of barbecues and beach days, but in Phoenix, Arizona, where temperatures reach 43C, the picture is very different. Nina Lakhani looks at what it’s like to be unhoused in the deadliest city in the US for heat fatalities. Nimo
Sport
Football | Ryan Giggs, who has been on leave from his position as Wales manager since November 2020, has stood down from the role permanently. Giggs said he does not want to “destabilise or jeopardise” the team’s World Cup campaign with speculation over his upcoming trial on charges of domestic violence.
Golf | Matt Fitzpatrick set his sights on winning half a dozen major championships after he became the first English winner of the US Open since Justin Rose in 2013. Fitzpatrick, 27, won the title by a single stroke on Sunday.
Tennis | Andy Murray hopes to play at Wimbledon but has said he is still recovering from an abdominal strain. Murray said his hopes of playing would become clear over “the next couple of days”.
The front pages
Transport disruption is the main theme for the papers today with the Times splash headline saying “Britain runs into the buffers”. The FT says “Business fears rail strike’s cost as prospect grows of more walkouts” while the Mail reckons “Strikes are a £1billion lockdown for Britain”. The Guardian line is “PM inflames rail dispute with strike-breaker threat”, contrasting sharply with the Telegraph’s “PM: Unions harming those they are meant to help”. The Express also has a line from Boris Johnson with “Boris: time for ‘sensible’ pay deals to ease cost crisis”, and that’s also picked up by the Yorkshire Post: “Johnson appeals for public sector pay restraint”. The Mirror goes with an elaborate front page which says “Planes Trains Automobiles” overlaid in each instance with “crisis” while for the Metro “It’s all going a bit loco” and the i says “No 10 plans to tear up the limits on City bosses’ pay”.
Today in Focus
What’s at stake in the extradition of Julian Assange?
After the UK home secretary decided to extradite Julian Assange to face trial and a possible life sentence in the US, Ben Quinn reports on what the ruling means for the WikiLeaks founder – and for press freedom
Cartoon of the day | Steve Bell
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Sarah Savage founded the UK’s first-ever Trans Pride in Brighton in 2013, with hundreds of people attending. Almost a decade later, the event is growing year on year. For Savage, Trans Pride is about easy access for vulnerable trans and nonbinary people, to find a family, especially for those, like Savage, who have been rejected by their biological one. “I found my home in Trans Pride,” she says. “With Trans Pride, I’ve realised what I’m capable of.”
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
