Henry Smith MP has expressed his dismay at Crawley Borough Council voting against a motion which called on the RMT union to end their rail strikes affecting Southern Railway services (on Wednesday, 19th October).

The full council voted against a motion put forward by Cllr Duncan Crow (Furnace Green), Leader of the Conservative Group on Crawley Borough Council, which condemned the strikes, organised over five separate periods totalling 14 days from 11th October to 8th December.

Henry said;

“It’s disappointing to see Crawley Labour councillors putting politics before people.

“I’ve continually said that parties need to work together on this issue – both the rail operator and the union have questions to answer.

“For my part, I continue to hold each of the Government, Govia Thameslink Railway, and the RMT union to account – including in the debate I secured in the Commons on train services last month.

“Commuters, including myself, know that the actions of GTR and the RMT are not acceptable and they need to come together to benefit passengers.

“It's outrageous because the RMT fund the Labour leadership and then duly their councillors in Crawley obey union paymasters. Clearly local Labour councillors are more loyal to those who help bankroll Jeremy Corbyn than Crawley residents trying to get to work.

"My House of Commons debate on rail services last month saw no Labour MPs turn up to take part. It's about time they worked for the people they purport to represent."