UK strike update: more to come or solution in sight?

Could one union be about to strike, while another is about to strike a deal? That is the question that faces negotiating teams on both sides of the long running and increasingly bitter round of disputes on the British railway network. With a fresh round of industrial action only a week away, there are contrasting views of the state of the dispute. The next planned stoppages are on Wednesday and Friday, 1 and 3 February.

Government sources have now admitted that it would be cheaper to have settled the dispute than see it through. That astonishing admission came from Huw Merriman, the rail minister, in answer to probing questions from the Transport Select Committee, a cross-party oversight body that informs the houses of the British parliament. Union leaders have already appeared before the committee.