Rail strikes: Labour Senedd members can join pickets, says Drakeford

A deserted Cardiff Central railway station on Tuesday

Welsh Labour leader Mark Drakeford will not follow party leader Sir Keir Starmer in asking colleagues to stay away from picket lines, he has said.

Frontbench Labour MPs were asked not to show support for the rail strike.

Mr Drakeford has said there is no "inhibition" on Senedd members showing support for trade union colleagues.

Plaid Cymru's Adam Price claimed Sir Keir Starmer was in competition with other politicians to be the "most invisible".

Eight Labour Senedd members - including three ministers - supported striking RMT workers at Cardiff Central on Tuesday.

Asked by Mr Price if he would do the same as Sir Keir, Mr Drakeford told first minister's questions in the Senedd: "No inhibition exists on members of my group demonstrating their support for the trade union movement."

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But Mr Drakeford said Sir Keir is in a "very different position" to his own and that if he sanctioned the attendance at picket lines the Conservatives would "succeed in their wish to portray this as somehow an example of the country returning to days which have been left far behind".

A number of Labour MPs have showed support for the rail strikes, including frontbenchers Kate Osborne, Paula Barker and Navendu Mishra.

Beth Winter, Welsh Labour MP for Cynon Valley, posted a photo of herself and other MPs at London's Victoria station.

Mr Price told the Senedd he was "proud" to be a picket line on Tuesday morning with "workers fighting for jobs and decent pay and conditions".

Ministers Dawn Bowden, Julie Morgan and Mick Antoniw and backbencher Alun Davies were among Labour politicians supporting striking workers on Tuesday

Wales' devolved transport operator, Transport for Wales, is not in dispute with the RMT.

It has meant that some south Wales valleys services running on lines that are controlled by the body have continued to operate, while many others on track owned by Network Rail have been cancelled.

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies accused Labour MSs of being on the "payroll" of unions.

He said: "There are nurses, there are students looking to exams, there are businesses who cannot get employees into heir place of work, who are suffering because of the strike action."

Mr Drakeford accused the UK government of being "entirely absent" and abandoning "their responsibilities".

He also accused Network Rail of "removing" staff "who could have been available to make trains run in Wales in order to keep trains running in England".

But a spokesperson for Network Rail Wales and Borders said: "No Network Rail staff have been redeployed from Wales to England during this industrial action.

"We're continuing to work with our partners at Transport for Wales and other train operators to keep passengers moving where we can."

Downing Street has said Boris Johnson believes pay rises in line with inflation are "not feasible across the board".

On Tuesday afternoon Counsel General Mick Antoniw tweeted a picture of himself, deputy arts and sports minister Dawn Bowden, deputy social services minister Julie Morgan, Blaenau Gwent MS Alun Davies, Bridgend MS Sarah Murphy and North Wales MS Carolyn Thomas, outside Cardiff Central.