A strike by London Underground workers has brought large parts of the Tube to a standstill.
Transport for London (TfL) has advised travellers to avoid attempting to use the Tube as the strike paralyses the service.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps blamed union leaders for the continuing dispute and said the ministry could impose a solution if there was no agreement.
Buses were crammed with passengers and roads were also jammed as some travellers turned to their cars. At 9am, congestion levels were at 40 per cent, compared with 26 per cent last week.
Leaders at the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union blame the government and managers for the failure to strike a deal on pay and pensions, at a time when the country is enduring rampant inflation.
It is the second of three consecutive RMT strike days. The other two days are a separate dispute with Network Rail, the company that maintains the railways and controls rail signals for England, Scotland and Wales.
Most Tube lines are suspended with very limited operation where there was a service.
“We have done everything we can to avoid this strike going ahead today,” said Nick Dent, TfL’s director of customer operations.
“Unfortunately, the disruption is going to be pretty significant to London today. We are advising customers not to travel on the Tube at all.”
Mr Shapps accused the union of not conveying updated offers from management to its members.
“The deal that is on the table actually means largely no compulsory redundancies at all,” he said.
“If [the unions] are not prepared to put that deal to your membership, we will never know whether members would accept it.
“What I do know, and I can say for sure, is if we can’t get this settled in the way that we are proposing, which is ‘please put the deal to your membership’, then we will have to move to what is called a Section 188; it is a process of actually requiring these changes to go into place, so it becomes mandated.
“That is the direction that this is moving in now.”
Mr Shapps said that outdated work practices needed to be updated.
“If we can’t get those modernisations in place, we will have to impose those modernisations, but we would much rather do it through these offers actually being put to their members,” he said.
The union is pinning the blame for the strikes on funding cuts and warned more, wider action may be next.
“The issues that are involved in London Underground may get more serious and right across TfL, because they haven’t got any funding from the government, it’s going to be difficult,” RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said.
“The government has cut £4 billion off the railway, the mainline railways lost £2bn, and TfL lost £2bn. So, that is going to affect every worker, but it will also affect the services that Londoners can expect going forward.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan said the government was provoking the industrial action.
“The way the government is behaving, it is almost like they are deliberately provoking strikes across the country, not just in the transport sector but in other sectors, as a precursor for legislation to curtail the rights of trade unions to go on strike,” he said.
“Today it is ordinary Londoners, commuters and businesses who are caught in the crossfire — the government and Grant Shapps aren’t affected at all.”
There is also disruption to London’s bus service on Friday and Saturday due to a separate strike by drivers, who are members of Unite, over a pay dispute.
Sixty-three bus routes are being affected, according to TfL.
Mainline train services started later than normal on Friday due to the knock-on effect of Thursday’s RMT strike at Network Rail and train operators across the country.
Only 70 per cent of services will run across Friday as a whole.
A further walkout on Saturday will reduce service levels to 20 per cent.
COMPANY PROFILE
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
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Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
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Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
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Bio
Born in Dubai in 1994
Her father is a retired Emirati police officer and her mother is originally from Kuwait
She Graduated from the American University of Sharjah in 2015 and is currently working on her Masters in Communication from the University of Sharjah.
Her favourite film is Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo del Toro
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
No.6 Collaborations Project
Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
