Rishi Sunak will speak to his cabinet about rail strikes after a union announced days of more strikes over Christmas in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
On Monday, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union RMT said it would go ahead with two 48 hour strikes next week and will walk out on 24 December until 6 am on 27 December.
There will be a strike next week that affects 14 train companies, although talks will continue with the Rail Delivery Group today.
Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, said it was unfortunate that the union had been forced to take action due to the continuing intransigence of the employers. He said: We will not bow to pressure from the employers and government to the detriment of our members. The additional Christmas strikes are intended to target engineering work, as no services run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, Mr Lynch told the BBC.
He said that there will be a disruption on Christmas Eve, and that the wind down will happen earlier than usual.
Nick Gibb, the schools minister, told the RMT rail union not to hold the country to ransom as they prepare for strikes in the run-up to Christmas.
The rail dispute is one of many that are going to cause a winter of discontent as unions seek pay rises in line with the rate of inflation to protect their members from the cost of living crisis.
There is a threat of action by nurses, firefighters and National Highways staff.
Teachers and bus drivers are being hit by a wave of strikes among other professions.
Angela Rayner, Labour's deputy leader, said: "I don't want to see industrial action because I see workers losing their pay and I see public inconvenience." She said that there is a deal to be done to get there and that we want our trains to run on time and the work is paid fairly and decently. Asked what she thought of Labour politicians being on the picket line, Sir Keir Starmer told Sky News that they could not sit around the cabinet table and then go to a picket line later today. The GMB union is expected to announce the dates of ambulance worker strike action after members backed walkouts across nine trusts in England and Wales.
The government confirmed over the weekend that hundreds of troops are on stand-by to cover for ambulance crews, firefighters and Border Force staff as ministers prepare for a wave of strikes across public services before Christmas.
The Cabinet Office said about 2,000 military personnel, civil servants and other volunteers have been training as part of the government's contingency planning.
According to Sky News Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme chairman Nadhim Zahawi, Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi said it was the right and responsible thing to do as ministers tried to minimise the disruption to the public.