Tories accuse Burnham of 'capitulating to union paymasters' over Avanti train drivers' 3.6% pay deal

Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden savaged the agreement, saying taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill to 'save Burnham's blushes' after union members backed strikes on the busy London-Manchester route. Aslef secured time-and-a-half pay on Sundays and £720 for working a fifth weekly day alongside the above-inflation rise. Avanti drivers, who start on around £70,000, had threatened industrial action after rejecting an earlier offer. The deal is the first approved under Burnham's premiership and was accelerated by a ballot result that gave Aslef, in its own words, 'immense pressure' over both the operator and government.