RMT Strikes: Impact on Businesses

Lord Londesborough Excerpts

Tuesday 28th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I did wonder when I saw this Question if it would result in the question that the noble Lord asks. As a former local government leader as well, I am absolutely aware that the problem with high streets is not a recent phenomenon but goes back years, and we have to do everything we can. There are some real innovative schemes coming together to support businesses, but I go back to the point that strikes are not helpful in this scenario, and that is why we are determined to improve industrial relations as we move forward.

[Lord Londesborough (CB)]

My Lords, the 20% drop in footfall reported by the hospitality and retail sectors as a result of these strikes suggests that at least 1 million of the capital’s 6 million workforce did not travel into work as planned. Most of them had to work from home, which meant that swathes of meetings were cancelled, ranging from large-scale events and conferences to a mass of those smaller but critical face-to-face meetings on which so much business, particularly in SMEs, depends. Does the Minister agree that, if you add this loss of productivity to the actual cost of lost working days, the true cost of these strikes could run into the billions?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

In the recent dispute in London, the particularly disappointing aspect was that in fact, particularly last Thursday, 88% of journeys in London still took place. I think the problem—well, if it is a problem—is that, because of Covid, many more people are able to work from home, and they decided to take the risk out of their day and stay at home. The noble Lord is right that the impact can be devastating, but the positive thing in the dispute this week is that ASLEF did not go out on strike. I think that holds hope for the future round.