Boris Johnson has launched a blistering attack on the leadership of the trade unions involved in the strike on the London Underground, describing their actions as "nakedly and blatantly political".
The London Mayor said the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) would not succeed with their strike, which he "deeply regretted". He was speaking as millions of people faced travel chaos in the capital.
Mr Johnson claimed the strike had nothing to do with health and safety or working conditions, insisting it "cannot be right" that a strike could go ahead when less than half of the union's members took part in the ballot.
London was being "held to ransom" and its economy was being threatened by the actions of just over 3,000 staff who had walked out, he claimed.
He told activists at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham: "I want to speak directly to the three million people who use the London Underground network every day and first the most important thing to say is how deeply I regret the inconvenience and the suffering as a result of this strike.
"I say to the leaders of the unions that this gesture is nakedly and blatantly political, that it has nothing to do with health and safety or improving the terms and conditions of work of new members.
"And I say to our legislators at Westminster that it cannot be right that a ballot can lead to strike action when less than half the members of that union take part.
"And it cannot be right that just over 3,000 people should be able to hold the city to ransom, stop people getting to work and to jeopardise our economic recovery, when the measures we are taking to reform ticket offices are an inevitable consequence of the success of the automatic Oyster card system, when some ticket offices are selling fewer than 10 tickets per hour and when we are able to link these changes with no compulsory redundancies, no loss of earnings and with no stations unstaffed at any time."
And Mr Johnson told union leaders: "The time has now come to ignore their lackeys in the Labour Party who seek to ferment unrest for their own dismal political ends."
He added: "This strike will not succeed and it must not succeed. We will get London moving, because we must get London moving."
Boris Johnson has launched a blistering attack on the leadership of the trade unions involved in the strike on the London Underground, describing their actions as "nakedly and blatantly political".
The London Mayor said the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) would not succeed with their strike, which he "deeply regretted". He was speaking as millions of people faced travel chaos in the capital.
Mr Johnson claimed the strike had nothing to do with health and safety or working conditions, insisting it "cannot be right" that a strike could go ahead when less than half of the union's members took part in the ballot.
London was being "held to ransom" and its economy was being threatened by the actions of just over 3,000 staff who had walked out, he claimed.
He told activists at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham: "I want to speak directly to the three million people who use the London Underground network every day and first the most important thing to say is how deeply I regret the inconvenience and the suffering as a result of this strike.
"I say to the leaders of the unions that this gesture is nakedly and blatantly political, that it has nothing to do with health and safety or improving the terms and conditions of work of new members.
"And I say to our legislators at Westminster that it cannot be right that a ballot can lead to strike action when less than half the members of that union take part.
"And it cannot be right that just over 3,000 people should be able to hold the city to ransom, stop people getting to work and to jeopardise our economic recovery, when the measures we are taking to reform ticket offices are an inevitable consequence of the success of the automatic Oyster card system, when some ticket offices are selling fewer than 10 tickets per hour and when we are able to link these changes with no compulsory redundancies, no loss of earnings and with no stations unstaffed at any time."
And Mr Johnson told union leaders: "The time has now come to ignore their lackeys in the Labour Party who seek to ferment unrest for their own dismal political ends."
He added: "This strike will not succeed and it must not succeed. We will get London moving, because we must get London moving."