
Grant Shapps: if he’s forced to resign over this, it won’t be the first time. You can bet he’ll protest his innocence this time, too.
It seems Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has been lying to Parliament – after he said he had no role in the rail strike, it has been alleged that he’s the one stopping agreement from being reached.
TUC chief Frances O’Grady said contracts mean the 15 train operators are unable to negotiate pay, conditions and pensions of 40,000 striking RMT workers without Shapps’s approval.
If they did try to reach a deal he could hit them with financial penalties by making them foot the bill for any extra wages costs.
This is based on legal opinion commissioned by the TUC from employment lawyer Michael Ford QC, who studied rail contracts to reveal a secret Dispute Handling Plan that rail operators must honour.
He said:
“These provisions mean train operators do not have freedom to negotiate matters which have given rise to the current dispute.
“It is the SoS, and not the operator, who has overarching direction and control of the strike.”
Of course, lying to Parliament remains a breach of the Ministerial Code that could potentially force an MP to resign.
So Shapps is now facing demands to actually do his job by resolving the rail strike in a way that ensures continued safety for passengers and security for workers – and then to resign from his job on grounds of corruption.
Source: Grant Shapps ‘misled public’ over claim he has no role in train strike – Mirror Online
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