RMT
general
secretary
Mick
Lynch
is
expected
to
meet
recently-appointed
transport
secretary
Mark
Harper
today,


just
after
the
union
called
four
more
48-hour
strikes
in
December
and
January.

ASLEF
is
also
staging
a
24-hour
drivers’
strike
on
Saturday.

Mr
Lynch
has
repeatedly
accused
the
government
of
placing
a
‘dead
hand’
on
the
talks
between
the
union,
Network
Rail
and
the
train
operators
which
are
aimed
at
reaching
a
settlement
in
the
long-running
dispute
over
pay
and
conditions..

Earlier
this
week
he
said:
‘The
employers
are
in
disarray
and
saying
different
things
to
different
people,
sometimes
at
the
same
time.
This
whole
process
has
become
a
farce
that
only
the
new
secretary
of
state
can
resolve.’

Speaking
to
the
BBC
in
Scotland,
the
RMT’s
assistant
general
secretary
John
Leach
said:
‘Let’s
hope
that
the
third
secretary
of
state
down
in
England
in
less
than
six
months
has
got
something
better
to
say
than
Grant
Shapps
and
Anne-Marie
Trevelyan
before
him
and
actually
puts
his
shoulder
behind
the
wheel
and
gets
a
deal
moving.’

Meanwhile,
the
MP
for
Buckingham
Greg
Smith
has
told
the
Daily
Telegraph
that
he
is
urging
the
transport
secretary
to
cancel
Network
Rail’s
engineering
works
over
Christmas
because
of
the
disruptive
effect
of
the
latest
RMT
strikes.

He
was
quoted
as
saying:
‘The
new
rail
strike
dates
are
particularly
disruptive
to
our
economy
during
a
delicate
financial
environment
when
traders
and
hospitality
desperately
need
a
good
festive
period.  

‘On
top
of
militant
union
action,
the
last
thing
rail
passengers
need
is
the
endless
disruption
from
engineering
works.’

Mr
Smith
also
opposes
HS2,
and
has
called
for
the
project
to
be
abandoned
because
of
the
financial
crisis.
In
spite
of
this,
the
Chancellor
dismissed
calls
for
HS2
to
be
further
cut
back
or
even
cancelled
in
his
Autumn
Statement
last
Friday.
Jeremy
Hunt
told
the
Commons
that
funding
would
be
available
to
continue
building
HS2
to
Manchester
as
well
as
East
West
Rail
and
the
‘core’
elements
of
Northern
Powerhouse
Rail.