Grant Shapps writes to RMT leader demanding pay offer be put to vote

On latest day of rail strikes, UK transport secretary tweets letter after Mick Lynch warns of further action

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has written to the head of the rail union representing tens of thousands of striking rail workers to demand that he put a pay offer to a members' vote.

Shapps wrote to Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers' union (RMT), after Lynch warned earlier on Saturday that further rail strikes were very likely" after the latest wave of industrial action, as transport services were disrupted by the latest strikes over pay and conditions.