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Rail strikes are set to bring large parts of the UK’s network to a grinding halt today when union members walk out in their long-running dispute over pay.

The 24-hour walkout by members of the train drivers’ union Aslef will be followed on Saturday by an overtime ban.

Up to 20,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) at 14 operators will also walk out on Saturday, in their own dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

The strikes are set to cause major disruption on the country’s rail network across the weekend – the last of the school summer holidays.

Today, there will be no services from operators, including Northern, Avanti West Coast, TransPennine, Southern and Thameslink.

Fewer than half of trains will be running across the country on Saturday, with rail bosses warning of short notice cancellations.

South Western Railway has advised passengers to only travel if “absolutely necessary” today, warning that most of its network will be closed.

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Both unions blame the government for the disruption, which they say is the result of ministers refusing to allow train operators to make an offer they can recommend to their members.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “The government appears happy to let passengers, and businesses, suffer in the mistaken belief that they can bully us into submission.

Mick Whelan
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Mick Whelan

“They don’t care about passengers, or Britain’s railway, but they will not break us.

“Train drivers at these companies have not had a pay rise for four years, since 2019, while inflation has rocketed.”

He claimed his union had not had contact with rail operators since later April, and from the government since early January.

“This shows how the contempt in which the companies, and the government, hold passengers and staff and public transport in Britain,” Mr Whelan added.

Read more:
Next rail fares rise will be ‘below inflation’
ScotRail train drivers vote to accept new pay deal

However, the Rail Delivery Group described Aslef’s strike as “unnecessary” and said it will cause “more disruption to passengers looking to enjoy the end of the summer holidays”.

“The union leadership has its head in the sand and refuses to put our fair and reasonable offer to their members,” a spokesperson said.

“The offer would increase the average driver base salary for a four-day week without overtime from £60,000 to nearly £65,000 by the end of 2023.

“We want to give our staff a pay increase, but it has always been linked to implementing necessary, sensible reforms that would enhance services for our customers.

“We urge the Aslef leadership to acknowledge the substantial financial challenges facing the rail industry and work with us to achieve a more dependable and robust railway system for the future.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “After taxpayers supported rail workers throughout the pandemic, it’s frustrating to see both Aslef and RMT coordinate their strikes with the aim of causing as much disruption as possible on the last weekend of the summer holidays.”

List of train companies affected by today’s strike:

• Avanti West Coast – no trains

• C2C – no trains

• Caledonian Sleeper – operator’s staff are not participating in the strike but services will not call at Watford Junction as the station will be closed due to the industrial action

• Chiltern Railways – no trains

• CrossCountry – no trains

• East Midlands Railway – no trains

• Gatwick Express – no trains but Southern will run a very limited service calling at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria only

• Great Northern – no trains

• Great Western Railway – extremely limited service and only between around 7am and 6.30pm.

• Greater Anglia – reduced service between London Liverpool Street and each of Norwich, Colchester and Southend Victoria

• Heathrow Express – reduced service with only one train per hour in each direction between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport

• London North Eastern Railway (LNER) – extremely limited service with around one train every two hours in each direction

• London Northwestern Railway – no trains

• Northern – no trains

• South Western Railway – reduced service and only from 7am and 7pm. Trains will only run between London Waterloo and each of Basingstoke, Twickenham and Woking; and between Guildford and Woking.

• Southeastern – no trains

• Southern – very limited service will operate, calling at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria only

• Stansted Express – one train per hour in both directions between London Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport

• Thameslink – no trains

• TransPennine Express – no trains

• West Midlands Railway – no trains

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‘This shouldn’t have happened’: Bishop who interrupted church choir in dressing gown apologises

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'This shouldn't have happened': Bishop who interrupted church choir in dressing gown apologises

A bishop who interrupted a church concert in his dressing gown – and told singers to “leave his house” – has formally apologised to the choir.

Jonathan Baker was filmed standing barefoot at a microphone as he criticised performers for making a “terrible racket” at St Andrew’s Church in central London.

Addressing the City Academy Voices choir directly, the bishop of Fulham said: “I write to apologise for the distress and offence I caused in bringing the concert to a premature end.

“This should not have happened … I also apologise for remarks which were made in haste, and which have understandably caused hurt and distress.”

The bishop, in his dressing gown, gave the choir a dressing down
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The bishop, in his dressing gown, gave the choir a dressing down

Mr Baker had demanded for the performance to stop because it was 10pm – and says he didn’t realise the choir had booked the church until 11pm.

In the statement obtained by Sky News, he added: “I have lived here on site at St Andrew’s for 10 years, for much of which City Academy has rehearsed and performed here.

“You have been, and continue to be, welcome – and I hope that you will be able to continue the relationship with us.

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“I can give you every assurance that the events of Friday evening will not recur, and I apologise again to performers (especially those unable to perform at the end of the evening) and the audience alike.”

The choir performed their last song
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The choir performed their last song

The choir was performing to a 300-strong audience in Holborn when the lights were suddenly turned off, with Mr Baker declaring the concert was “over”.

A church employee then asked the crowd to leave quietly and for the musicians to step down from the stage, attracting boos from the audience.

The choir went on to perform one last song, an A cappella version of ABBA’s Dancing Queen, before bringing their show to a close.

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Bishop
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Jonathan Baker has apologised

One member of the audience, who was attending with his 10-year-old daughter, told Sky News he initially thought the interruption was a staged joke.

Benedict Collins had told Sky News: “This work deserves respect, not to be disparaged as a ‘terrible racket’. The people here had put their heart and soul into it.

“The bishop cut them off in midstream, preventing soloists who had worked their hardest from singing – and preventing the audience, which included people of all ages, from enjoying it to the end.”

The choir told Sky News it was “upsetting” that they were unable to finish their show as planned, but “hold no hard feelings and wish the bishop well”.

A spokesperson added: “If anyone is thinking of joining one of our choirs, the City Academy Voices rehearse on Mondays in central London. Dressing gowns optional.”

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X criticises Online Safety Act – and warns it’s putting free speech in the UK at risk

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X criticises Online Safety Act - and warns it's putting free speech in the UK at risk

The Online Safety Act is putting free speech at risk and needs significant adjustments, Elon Musk’s social network X has warned.

New rules that came into force last week require platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X – as well as sites hosting pornography – to bring in measures to prove that someone using them is over the age of 18.

The Online Safety Act requires sites to protect children and to remove illegal content, but critics have said that the rules have been implemented too broadly, resulting in the censorship of legal content.

X has warned the act’s laudable intentions were “at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach”.

It said: “When lawmakers approved these measures, they made a conscientious decision to increase censorship in the name of ‘online safety’.

“It is fair to ask if UK citizens were equally aware of the trade-off being made.”

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What are the new online rules?

X claims the timetable for platforms to meet mandatory measures had been unnecessarily tight – and despite complying, sites still faced threats of enforcement and fines, “encouraging over-censorship”.

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“A balanced approach is the only way to protect individual liberties, encourage innovation and safeguard children. It’s safe to say that significant changes must take place to achieve these objectives in the UK,” it said.

A UK government spokesperson said it is “demonstrably false” that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech.

“As well as legal duties to keep children safe, the very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression,” they added.

Users have complained about age checks that require personal data to be uploaded to access sites that show pornography, and 468,000 people have already signed a petition asking for the new law to be repealed.

In response to the petition, the government said it had “no plans” to reverse the Online Safety Act.

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Why do people want to repeal the Online Safety Act?

Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage likened the new rules to “state suppression of genuine free speech” and said his party would ditch the regulations.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said on Tuesday that those who wanted to overturn the act were “on the side of predators” – to which Mr Farage demanded an apology, calling Mr Kyle’s comments “absolutely disgusting”.

Regulator Ofcom said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into how four companies – that collectively run 34 pornography sites – are complying with new age-check requirements.

Read more from Sky News:
British children who drowned off Spain named
Man charged after children fell ill at summer camp

These companies – 8579 LLC, AVS Group Ltd, Kick Online Entertainment S.A. and Trendio Ltd – run dozens of sites, and collectively have more than nine million unique monthly UK visitors, the internet watchdog said.

The regulator said it prioritised the companies based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operated and their user numbers.

It adds to the 11 investigations already in progress into 4chan, as well as an unnamed online suicide forum, seven file-sharing services, and two adult websites.

Ofcom said it expects to make further enforcement announcements in the coming months.

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British children who drowned off Spanish coast named

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British children who drowned off Spanish coast named

Two siblings who drowned while on holiday in Spain have been named – with a fundraiser for their family reaching £40,000.

Ameiya and Ricardo Junior Parris, aged 13 and 11, died on Tuesday evening after getting into difficulty off Llarga beach in Salou, Catalonia.

Their father Ricardo tried to rescue them, but he also got into difficulty and was unconscious when he was pulled from the water. He was later released from hospital with a concussion.

Ricardo Senior and his partner, Shanice Del-Brocco, 31, were staying at the Hotel Best Negresco right by the beach with their six children when tragedy struck.

Ameiya and Ricardo Junior. Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire
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Ameiya and Ricardo Junior have been described as “hilarious, sensitive and loving”. Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire

The construction worker from Birmingham had taken their two oldest children for one final swim while Shanice had taken the younger ones back to the hotel.

“They’d gone out. They were being sensible. They’re very good swimmers,” the children’s aunt, Kayla Del-Brocco, said.

“They knew it was late. However, they’d been doing this every day on holiday, so that day was no different. They didn’t go out far, but the current was just too strong and pulled them.”

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A hotel worker saw the siblings struggling in the water and called for help. When Shanice returned to the beach, emergency services were already at the scene, with Junior, nicknamed Joby, taken away in a helicopter.

“It’s breaking (Ricardo), if I’m honest, because he was in the water, and I know he said things to my sister like: ‘I had him, I had Joby in my arms, and we got smacked up the rocks, and that’s the last thing I remember,'” Shanice’s sister said.

Ricardo Senior suffered a “nasty concussion and some bumps and batters”, Ms Del-Brocco said, adding that he was the first to be rescued.

Little Ameiya and her baby brother Ricardo Junior. Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire
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Little Ameiya and her oldest brother Ricardo Junior. Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire

The couple were unable to see their children’s bodies until Thursday at the mortuary and are now waiting for them to be repatriated to the UK, which they were told “could be anything from seven to 15 days”, Ms Del-Rocco said.

“They are just numb. They’re holding each other up and keeping it together for the little ones at the minute; going through the motions and desperately waiting to come home now.”

Read more from Sky News:
Couple relive watching Rotherham riots unfold
Man charged after children fell ill at summer camp

The GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of repatriating the bodies of Ameiya and Ricardo Junior, which was set up by her cousin, has already raised around £40,000, which Ms Del-Rocco described as “phenomenally overwhelming”.

“Maya was intelligent, thoughtful, and growing into a strong young woman. Ricardo Junior was playful, kind, and always smiling. They brought so much love, laughter, and energy into the lives of everyone around them,” the fundraising page reads.

“Their absence has left an unbearable silence not just for their parents, but for their whole family, who were incredibly close and shared an unbreakable bond.”

Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire
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Ameiya and Ricardo Junior were doting older siblings. Pic: Kayla Del-Brocco/PA Wire

Ms Del-Brocco said that Ameiya and Junior, who were in Years 7 and 8 at North Birmingham Academy, were doting older siblings, with their mother describing them as “hilarious, sensitive and loving – the best big brother and sister anyone could want”.

Their aunt said that Ameiya, a talented runner with ambitions of going to the Olympics, was “unapologetically just herself” and “driven by being unique”.

Ricardo Junior was a “very, very special one-of-a-kind character” who wanted to become a famous YouTuber.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of two British children who have died in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”

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