London Underground strike causing travel disruption across capital
A Tube strike is causing disruption across London with extremely limited services on the London Underground today.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and Unite are involved in a long-running dispute over jobs and pensions which has led to previous disruption due to industrial action.
Passengers are urged to check before travelling on Thursday with problems expected to continue into Friday morning due to the walkout.
A very reduced service is running on the Central, Northern and District lines with no service on all other lines.
The Elizabeth line is running but may not be calling at some stations it shares with the Tube.
Transport for London (TfL) said London Overground and DLR services may also be subject to last minute changes on Thursday, with London Trams running a reduced timetable and buses expected to be much busier than normal.
Union members will mount picket lines outside Tube stations across the capital, with a group of around a dozen seen holding an RMT banner outside King’s Cross St Pancras as early as 7am.
Nearby, commuters were seen being turned away from packed buses.
The RMT claims it offered to suspend the strike during talks but accused TfL of rejecting its proposals.
Glynn Barton, TfL’s chief operating officer, said no proposals to change pensions or conditions had been made.
TfL’s recent funding agreement with the government required it to develop options around pensions, but the organisation said if changes are to be made, there would be consultations before any decisions are made.
The RMT alleges it asked TfL to pause any job cuts and pension changes to give both sides time to negotiate a deal.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “TfL have missed a golden opportunity to make progress in these negotiations and avoid strike action.
“Our members are resolute in their determination to see a just settlement to this dispute, and they will continue their industrial campaign for as long as it takes.”
More than 1,000 Unite members will be on strike.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “TfL is needlessly attacking our members’ pay and pensions, which Unite simply can’t accept. The workers have the full support of their union in fighting these attacks. TfL must stop behaving like a race-to-the-bottom employer and put forward an offer that is acceptable to our members.”
Jess Phillips has said “nothing is off the table” when dealing with the grooming gangs scandal – including a new national inquiry if victims want one.
The safeguarding minister told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that she would listen to victims on a new panel that was announced by the government this week.
“Nothing is off the table,” she said.
“And if the victims come forward to me in this victims panel and they say, ‘actually, we think there needs to be a national inquiry into this’, I’ll listen to them.”
Politics latest: Tories told to ‘put up or shut up’
Her comments come days after it emerged she had rejected calls from Oldham Council to hold a government inquiry into grooming gangs in the town, and said the council should commission one instead.
That has led to tech billionaire Elon Musk attacking her and Sir Keir Starmer for not holding a national inquiry and accusing the prime minister of being “complicit” in the abuse.
Professor Alexis Jay finished an eight-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse in 2022 and set out recommendations for the government.
Read more:
What happened in the grooming gangs scandal?
Why the Tories’ attempts to force inquiry won’t work
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Education sec ‘not interested’ in Musk comments
The Conservatives tabled an amendment to the Children’s Safeguarding and Schools Bill on Wednesday to require a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs.
However, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News the Tories “don’t care about children” as the amendment could prevent the entire bill from going forward.
She said: “The measures that I’m setting out today and the legislation in many ways go further because it puts a requirement on all councils to have teams working to keep children safe.
“And the bandwagon jumpers that have come along in recent days, they don’t care about children, they don’t care about making sure that we stop this and we take action.
“They had years to do it and they didn’t do it.”
The Conservatives also rejected a call from Oldham Council for a government inquiry in 2022.
You can listen to Beth’s full interview with Jess Phillips in a special episode of Electoral Dysfunction released on Thursday.
The 14-year-old who was stabbed to death on a bus in southeast London yesterday has been named as Kelyan Bokassa.
He was stabbed to death on a bus in Woolwich Church Street, close to the Woolwich Ferry, just before 2.30pm on Tuesday.
The teenager died at the scene shortly after medical help arrived.
The Metropolitan Police called the stabbing a “horrific attack,” while London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said the “heart-breaking violence has absolutely no place in our city”.
No arrests have been made so far but officers are appealing for witnesses who were on the 472 bus.
Tributes were left to the teenager, who was a student at St Columba’s Catholic Boys School. Pic: PA
An aspiring rapper, 14-year-old Kelyan was also “briefly” a student at St Columba’s Catholic Boys School in Bexleyheath.
The South East London Catholic Academy Trust said in a statement it was “saddened by the loss of life” and added: “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this difficult time.
“Our schools will provide support to any of the students who may be affected by this senseless violence.”
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Mary Bokassa, the boy’s mother, also told MailOnline that he and others “were taken advantage by gangs” and “were groomed”.
She told the outlet: “He was missing for a year and was living on the street. He finally turned up at my doorstep, he was sick, underweight and tattooed.
“He was exposed to drugs. He probably experienced something because I could sense it. He was not himself. If I questioned him, he wouldn’t tell me anything about his friends.”
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Thorpe, who is leading the investigation, said: “Following Kelyan’s tragic death yesterday, specialist officers are now leading the investigation which is progressing at pace.
“If anyone saw this horrific attack or was in the area then I urge them to come forward and speak to officers.
“We’re particularly interested in any mobile phone footage that captured this incident or any dash cam or doorbell footage from around the surrounding area at the time of this incident.”
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