Closing summary: Weeks of transport disruption begin
Many of Great Britain’s railway stations were deserted on Tuesday as rail unions began the first of four days of rail strikes this week – and another four over the Christmas period.
About a fifth of services ran across the country, but large parts of rural Britain had no services at all.
The government said it will not back down on pay awards for the public sector in the face of strikes – ahead of imminent action by nurses, ambulance workers, Royal Mail employees, among many others.
Relations between the government and unions were already battered by the first round of rail strikes this summer, and they have worsened with three successive prime ministers this year pledging to crack down on workers’ ability to strike.
The developments today:
The UK recorded the highest number of working days lost to labour disputes in October for more than 10 years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the ONS said real wages (pay packets after the effects of inflation) fell by 2.7% in the three months to October, “among the largest falls in growth since comparable records began in 2001”.
Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, said the only way the rail strikes will be resolved is if the unions back down. While the government does not directly set pay awards, in practice it has significant influence over the terms the train operating companies can offer.
RMT rail union leader Mick Lynch accused the BBC of “parroting” rightwing propaganda in its coverage of the rail strikes during a series of heated interviews on Tuesday morning – while also having an unusual exchange with ITV presenter Richard Madeley over the meaning of the word “Christmas”.
Lynch said there was “no deal in sight”, although he also separately expressed optimism that later strikes could be averted with some changes to the terms offered by train operating companies.
The Port of Felixstowe has agreed an increased pay deal with workers after they went on strike this summer, its owners claimed.
Physiotherapists in England and Wales voted for strike action, as did midwives in Wales.
That’s all for today from this live blog, but you can continue to follow the Guardian’s coverage from around the world:
In the UK, Rishi Sunak says changes to asylum system should lead to ‘vast majority’ of Albanian applications being refused
In the US, the White House is expected to announce ‘major scientific breakthrough’ on fusion energy
In our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, Moscow rejects Zelenskiy peace proposal, saying Kyiv must accept new ‘realities
Thanks for reading today, and do join us tomorrow for more coverage. JJ
Updated
Transport minister Mark Harper was on the broadcast round this morning defending the government as rail unions started 48 hours of strikes.
RMT union leader Mick Lynch said there needed to be modifications of some of the proposals from train companies and an increased pay offer. He also accused the government of obstructing any deal (by insisting the train operating companies include contentious provisions on driver-only operation).
You can watch them both here:
