Former Tory rail minister says he understands Labour deal with unions

A former Conservative minister has called for an end to the demonisation of train drivers and said he understood why the new Labour government had “decided to cut a deal” with unions.

Huw Merriman, who served as the rail minister for the entirety of Rishi Sunak’s premiership, apologised for failing to bring in workplace reforms and his inability to reach an agreement to end the strikes.

He said on X: “I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to reach an agreement with all unions who were on strike. Having tried to bring in workplace reform to improve rail services and, holding my hands up, failed, I can understand why the new [government] have decided to cut a deal to end the uncertainty and move on with goodwill.”

Within six weeks in office, the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, reached an agreement with the train drivers’ union Aslef for a pay rise worth 15% over three years.

Union insiders are understood to be very happy with the deal and have urged members to back it when they vote from 28 August.

Related: Aslef train drivers announce 22 days of strike action on east coast mainline

However, an internal decision to announce in the same week that Aslef members employed by LNER would strike over working conditions has left some union officials furious. The government was “left in the dark” by the manoeuvre.

A source close to the discussions said: “We totally fucked up by announcing the strike action in the same week and it’s stupidity of the highest order. The LNER is an entirely separate dispute, but the announcement has now totally conflated the two issues. We were expecting the strike action to be announced at least four weeks after the pay deal was reached.”

In his thread on X, Merriman also spoke out about the language used around railway staff. “Whilst it’s legitimate to debate the terms of the deal, the demonisation of train drivers and those onboard and at stations, who carry out a difficult and skilled job for the safety of passengers, is completely unfair. These people work hard and should be shown more respect.

“Despite reports, I had a good working relationship with the rail union leaders and recognised their role representing members. I hope, by sticking my head up and accepting my part, others can show our rail workforce the respect and recognition they deserve and focus on the future.”

Despite the admission from a former minister, the shadow home secretary and Tory leadership hopeful James Cleverly claimed Labour was being “played by its union paymasters”.

LNER strike action has been launched over a dispute over working conditions, including claims of “bullying” by bosses and “persistent breaking” of agreements by LNER management.

Aslef’s lead negotiator, Nigel Roebuck, had praised Haigh for being “the adult in the room” during pay negotiations but said LNER had “consistently blocked” attempts to settle the latest dispute.

“We put our members first and our members’ mandate is on a separate issue which has been ongoing for two years,” he said. “This dispute is not connected to the pay, it’s about upgrading of our agreements.”

The Guardian tried to contact LNER for comment. LNER had previously said: “Our priority focus will be on minimising disruption to customers during the forthcoming Aslef strikes, which sadly will continue to cause disruption and delays.

“We are surprised and disappointed to hear this news following recent constructive conversations. We will continue to work with Aslef to find a way to end this long-running dispute which only damages the rail industry.”

The planned strikes will cover a total of 22 days covering every Saturday and Sunday from 1 September to 10 November.