UK train strikes and energy hikes add to a week of turmoil

Four labour unions have called three, 24-hour strikes over the next eight days, as consumers are also hit with a jump in their energy bills

Timing of strikes could affect runners and fans trying to get to British capital for Sunday’s London Marathon

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Protesters burn symbolic energy bills outside the ICC in Birmingham, England, on Saturday. Photo: AP

Published: 10:15pm, 1 Oct 2022

Trains in Britain all but ground to a halt on Saturday as coordinated strikes by rail workers added to a week of turmoil caused by soaring energy prices and unfunded tax cuts that roiled financial markets.

Only about 11 per cent of train services were expected to operate across the United Kingdom on Saturday, according to Network Rail. Unions said they called the latest in a series of one-day strikes to demand that wage increases keep pace with inflation that is expected to peak at around 11 per cent this month.

Tens of thousands of staff in various industries – from the postal and legal systems to ports and telecommunications – have also gone on strike across Britain since the summer.

Rail workers protest on the picket line in Leeds during a 24-hour strike by four transport trade unions. Photo: PA Wire/dpa

Consumers were also hit with a jump in their energy bills on Saturday as the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushes gas and electricity prices higher. Household bills are expected to rise by about 20 per cent, even after the government stepped in to cap prices.

Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has been in office less than a month, cited the cost-of-living crisis as the reason she moved swiftly to introduce a controversial economic stimulus programme, which includes £45 billion (US$48 billion) of unfunded tax cuts.

Concern that the plans would push government debt to unsustainable levels sent the pound tumbling to a record low against the dollar this week and forced the Bank of England to intervene in the bond market.

“We need to get things done in this country more quickly,” Truss said in an unapologetic column for The Sun newspaper published on Saturday. “So I am going to do things differently. It involves difficult decisions and does involve disruption in the short term.”

Empty platforms are seen at Paddington railway station during a 24-hour strike by four transport trade unions, in London on Saturday. Photo: PA via AP