Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has written to hon. Members to say that pressure by trade union leaders has prompted staff working for Govia Thameslink Railway to call in sick.

It is apparent that as the industrial dispute on Southern has continued, staff sickness levels have risen. Both publicly and in correspondence with hon. Members, we have consistently called for the union to stop all industrial action - which is not about jobs or safety - and which is doing nothing but hurting passengers, not least when Driver Only Operation is already in operation on the network.