PMQs: Rishi Sunak working on 'tough' new anti-strike laws

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said helium is moving connected "new pugnacious laws" to support radical from onslaught disruption.

He told MPs if "union leaders proceed to beryllium unreasonable, past it is my work to instrumentality enactment to support the lives and livelihoods of the British public".

But Labour person Sir Keir Starmer pointed to comments from the transport caput suggesting caller laws would not assistance with existent concern action.

Nurses, paramedics and obstruction unit are among those acceptable to onslaught this winter.

A measure has been introduced to Parliament which would guarantee minimum work levels connected transport networks during strikes but it is yet to beryllium debated by MPs and peers.

Earlier, Transport Secretary Mark Harper told MPs the caller authorities "may good amended the work passengers person connected onslaught days" successful the aboriginal but it would not "help with the concern enactment that we look today".

He added that his "priority" was to resoluteness the concern quality with obstruction unions "so that passengers don't person onslaught days".

Downing Street would not springiness details of immoderate caller plans to tackle strikes but said enactment connected caller measures was "ongoing".

The premier minister's authoritative spokesperson said: "We support the powers nether reappraisal and evidently successful airy of what we are seeing with efficaciously rolling strikes, the premier curate thinks it is close to propulsion up with caller powers."

During Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Sunak called connected Sir Keir to "stand up for moving people" and enactment the minimum work levels legislation.

He accused Labour Party of refusing to backmost workers and businesses who would beryllium affected by the strikes.

But Sir Keir said the premier curate "should halt grandstanding, halt sitting connected his hands, get circular the array and resoluteness these issues".

Labour has said it would reason the "unworkable" minimum work levels legislation, but a spokeswoman said she could not perpetrate to repealing it if the enactment took powerfulness arsenic the laws had not yet been brought in.

Asked what enactment Labour would instrumentality connected onslaught laws, she said the enactment would repeal the "archaic" authorities introduced nether the Conservatives successful 2016.

The 2016 Trade Union Act does not let online ballots for strikes and brought successful higher thresholds for concern enactment successful cardinal nationalist services.

Unions are calling for wage rises to support up with the outgo of living.

Inflation - the complaint astatine which prices emergence - is presently moving astatine 11.1%, the highest level for 40 years.

But the authorities says expanding wage with ostentation is unaffordable successful the existent economical climate.

Mr Sunak insisted the authorities had been "reasonable" and had accepted the recommendations of autarkic wage reappraisal bodies for nationalist assemblage workers.

The long-running quality with obstruction unions is besides astir occupation cuts and changes to presumption and conditions.

It has already caused galore days of disruption this year, bringing overmuch of the web to a standstill connected onslaught days, with much walkouts planned implicit Christmas.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said helium was "ready to enactment with commercialized unions" connected issues similar staffing levels and conditions.

However, asked if helium was consenting to amended his wage connection to NHS staff, Mr Barclay told the BBC that was a substance for the autarkic wage reappraisal body.