Passengers are being urged to only travel by train if they must, and if it is necessary, allow extra time and check when their last train will depart. It means millions must work from home hours after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned the UK will have the weakest economy in the G7 next year. The UK hospitality industry claim strikes cost pubs, restaurants and bars up to £100million a day while the Centre for Economics and Business Research estimate other costs mount to around £30million-a-day.
Labour leader Mr Starmer has repeatedly refused to confirm what approach his party would take if they faced similar problems in government. When questioned over whether he would back inflation-matching pay rises for rail workers and other public sector staff, Sir Keir failed to give a straight answer.
But he also risked further angering the left-wing of his party after distancing himself from nationalisation pledges made in his leadership campaign in 2020. After a policy U-turn on Monday committing to nationalising the railways, yesterday the Labour leader said his promise may be put on the back burner until the economy recovers.