RMT chief threatens rail strikes could continue beyond May – as it happened |

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Network Rail’s chief negotiator, Tim Shoveller, has claimed a deal to stop the strikes is “in touching distance”, as drivers and staff began the first of five consecutive days of national rail strikes. Most train services are not running today.

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Shoveller suggested the pay offer on the table (which has been rejected by the RMT union) would not be improved but claimed that better communication of the deal would begin to win over union members.

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However, RMT leader Mick Lynch said the strikes could continue beyond May, unless a reasonable offer is made to the RMT. The transport secretary, Mark Harper, denied that ministers had been sitting on their hands, and insisted that the current offer was “fair and reasonable” and that reforms to the railway needed to be made in return, i.e. changes to working conditions.

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You can read more on our politics live blog:

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German inflation slowed to 8.6% in December.

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Manufacturing in the UK ended 2022 on a weak footing, with production, new orders and employment all falling at faster rates. The S&P Global / CIPS…