Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to drive to Tory conference in Manchester due to train strikes- full details

The Conservative Party Conference gets underway on Sunday October 1, and thousands of people will attend over the four days. Journeys to and from the event, which is hosted at Manchester Central, are however set to be affected by rail strikes. 

Members of train workers union ASLEF will strike across the country on Saturday September 30 and Wednesday October 4. This is the day before the conference is due to start and the final day of the event. 

Train workers at 16 train companies will be on strike. This includes Northern Trains and Avanti West Coast who both operate services in and out of Manchester. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be in attendance at the conference, but he, like many others, will not be using the train. In an interview with BBC Manchester, Mr Sunak was asked how he would be getting to Manchester. 

He said: "Strikes are very disruptive on people and actually, that's why we've taken action recently to pass new laws in Parliament that will ensure that you know, when people do strike, which is obviously their right, that we can put in place minimum levels of service." 

The PM added that if there were no train strikes on Saturday, he would have got a train to Manchester. There is the potential for further rail disruption later in the week as ASLEF members have an overtime ban in place from October 2 to 6.

Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, said: “While we regret having to take this action – we don’t want to lose a day’s pay, or disrupt passengers, as they try to travel by train – the government, and the employers, have forced us into this position. Our members have not, now, had a pay rise for four years – since 2019 – and that’s not right when prices have soared in that time. Train drivers, perfectly reasonably, want to be able to buy now what they could buy four years ago.”