Union bosses have turned down an eye-watering £60k a year for a four-day week job, inconveniencing thousands of commuters. This is the latest development in a striking saga that has already cost the public tens of millions of pounds. With no end in sight, commuters are forced to deal with substandard rail services being held to ransom by union leaders.

Chris Grayling, the Transport Minister, this week tried to calm commuters down by saying the government will “look at” rules around striking. But this has done little to relax tensions. The government seems to be happy to continue footing the bill for the millions of pounds of damage caused by this strike, on top of the colossal £1bn paid to Govia to run the rail service.

On the other side of the aisle, Jeremy Corbyn has said he’d like the railways put back into public hands, but hasn’t specified how, and nor has he said what he’d do about the strikers’ demands. He has, however, said he’d happily join them down at the picket line. Critics have blasted him over the move, with one saying: “Presumably this means Corbyn thinks it’s perfectly to hold 300,000 commuters, the government, and the taxpayer to ransom, to try to get more than £60k and a three day weekend. Sounds like he’s for the few, not the many.”

This follows as the latest embarrassing revelation for Mr. Corbyn, who has been further accused of hypocrisy in recent weeks after it was revealed that his tuition fee abolition policy would benefit the richest 10% by £60,000, and take £1,500 from the pockets of the poorest. Internal critics are increasingly concerned that his policy platform would actually lead to more money for the richest, and less for the poor.