New working terms will be imposed on striking rail staff if they refuse to accept deals on the table, the transport secretary has threatened.
Grant Shapps stepped up his battle with the rail unions by revealing plans to use a section 188 order to end the disputes, saying: “That is the direction that this is moving in now.”
But one union rejected his claim that an 8 per cent pay rise is on offer, insisting the privatised rail firms have offered just 2 per cent – alongside job losses and pension cuts.