Rail strikes cost UK £1bn and settling would have been cheaper, minister admits

Huw Merriman insists the need for reform to working practices made the standoff necessary

Rail strikes have cost the UK economy more than 1bn and it would have cost less to settle the dispute with unions over pay and conditions months ago, a government minister has admitted.

However, the rail minister Huw Merriman said the need for reform to working practices made the standoff necessary, as he told MPs on the Commons transport select committee on Wednesday that the government had not torpedoed" a deal, nor interfered in a negative manner".