ON the twelfth day of Christmas the rail unions bring the season to an end in the same way they began it — with two days of strikes. The RMT and Aslef between them are bringing London to a standstill today and tomorrow. Business as usual then. Or rather, not. Today this paper publishes figures to show the cost of a week’s strike to London business: £180 million.
That figure gives an idea of what happens when people don’t come to the office, go out shopping, go out to the theatre or go out for a drink. Every sector is affected. And the wider effects on business are less easy to put a figure on, but no less significant. If London is seen as an unreliable place to do business, as no one knows when normal activities will be put on hold at the whim of the RMT, then it loses more of its competitive edge. For shops, restaurants and theatres, the attrition of running rail strikes is one more burden to weather, along with rocketing energy bills.
