“By refusing to negotiate a rail strike, the government all but admitted it wanted it” – Jason Beattie

“The Transport Secretary argued that this was a matter for the union and employers, conveniently forgetting that as the ultimate manager of Network Rail he is the employer.”

Today’s rail strike is not the outcome the unions want, much less the outcome passengers want.

But is it the result the Conservatives want?

For years unions have used the prospect of industrial action as leverage.

It’s no easy threat — after all, it costs its members money for every day they don’t work — but it’s proven an effective way of getting bosses to cut a deal.

On that occasion, there was no agreement at the eleventh hour for the simple reason that Grant Shapps was unwilling to speak to the RMT.

The Transport Secretary argued that this was a matter for the union and employers, conveniently forgetting that as the ultimate manager of Network Rail he was also the employer. He could have been in the room.

In fact, there would have been a responsible transport minister in the room who wanted to minimize the inconvenience to travellers.

Maybe nothing would have come of it. Perhaps the RMT’s Mick Lynch would have refused to budge, but at least Shapps could have said he did everything he could to avert the strike.

By refusing to negotiate, the government was effectively admitting that it wanted this dispute.

It is in this government’s fetish to want to go back to Margaret Thatcher’s days.

Just as they revived sales rights and brought back the crown mark on pint glasses, they are now indulging in old-fashioned union bashing.

In October, Boris Johnson told the Tory Party Conference that the country was on the way to becoming a “high-wage, high-skilled” economy.

Now the Tories are starting a fight with workers who are demanding just that.