Commuter misery: Tube strikes and website issues
Commuter misery deepened this morning as the Transport for London website crashed, on the first day of a week of tube strikes.
People clicking on specific lines to find out more about the impact of a five-day strike by the RMT union were greeted with an “internal service error” message earlier this morning.
This appears to be fixed now, but the journey planner section on the TfL website is still not working.
The series of strikes will mean almost no tube trains running until Friday, with other transport in the capital likely to be affected by crowding and congestion.
The RMT union has batted back pleas to call off the industrial action, involving about 10,000 workers, as it attempts to secure a shorter working week as part of pay negotiations.
London’s other rail services – the Elizabeth line, London Overground and National Rail services – will continue to run, as will buses. Some central rail stations with tube interchanges will be closed.
Shelly Asquith, health & safety policy officer at Trades Union Congress, said on X:
A very good morning to all London Underground workers on strike today
Fatigue from long hours and extremely early or late shift work takes a major toll on the body, increasing likelihood physical and mental health conditions
You deserve better! #tubestrike @TfL @RMTunion
— Shelly Asquith (@ShellyAsquith) September 8, 2025
Economist Ben Ramanauskas, a former government adviser, said:
The @RMTunion shouldn’t be able to hold Londoners to ransom and stifle the UK’s economic growth. As much of TFL as possible needs to be automated ASAP. In the meantime the Tube should be declared an essential service and its workers banned from striking.
— Ben Ramanauskas (@BenRamanauskas) September 8, 2025
Key events
Here’s our full story on the tube strikes and TfL website issues.
The ride hailing app Uber warned users of higher fares because of increased demand. Rides were quoted at multiples of normal levels, with some journeys costing about £50 for a five-mile trip in the capital.
Labour must improve workers’ rights to fulfil promise to voters, says Unite’s Sharon Graham
Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, has urged the government not to water down the employment rights bill, saying it had “made a promise to the British people,” while serial entrepreneur Luke Johnson warned that the bill will increase the burden on employers.
In a heated clash on BBC radio 4’s Today programme, Graham said:
What I hope is not going on is that the government are looking to water down the Employment Rights bill. They made a promise to the British people. This was a central part of what they promised that they would make work pay. And already, prior to this [government] reshuffle, we were already seeing fire and rehire watered down; a zero hour contracts ban, watered down; councils being allowed to fire and rehire added and so therefore the mood music wasn’t looking too good. And what I do hope is that they don’t intend on now slowing this down, or indeed, scrapping some parts of it altogether.
Her comments came as the Trades Union Congress (TUC), of which Unite is a member, is holding its annual congress in Brighton, which started on Sunday and lasts until Wednesday.
Johnson, the former chairman of Pizza Express, Channel 4 and the bust cafe chain Patisserie Valerie, who now sits on the board of Brompton Cycles, said:
Labour’s paymasters, the unions, want to see more rights, and the fact is.. unemployment is rising. Business sentiment is very weak, and every single major business or employer organisation opposes this bill. It is going to place much higher burdens on employers of day one rights, for example.
He was referring to giving workers full rights from the first day of employment, rather than putting people on probation for the first two years. This is about to change under the legislation.
That means it’s much more dangerous to take someone on. And I am quite sure, having talked to lots of employers and people thinking of starting a business, that all this extra red tape will just discourage people from investing, from taking on new workers and from creating jobs.
Turning to Graham, Johnson said:
Sharon is so ignorant about the reality of business. She’s never run, she’s never created a job. She doesn’t understand how hard it is actually out there. We’re on the cusp of a recession. The idea that all these extra costs and bureaucracy should be layered on employers is nuts.
Graham responded:
We have done a very detailed survey of 17,000 companies. I’ll send it to you, if you like, across Britain, that shows since before the pandemic, profit margins have gone up, on average, by 30%.
Buses, Elizabeth line take the strain as tube network shut
Gwyn Topham
Buses and the Elizabeth Line were taking the strain with queues to board other modes of transport around London, as strikes by Tube train and station staff left virtually the entire Underground network suspended, our transport correspondent Gwyn Topham reports.
Monday morning marked the first of four days of expected total Tube shutdown closure through the strikes, which started in places on Friday with minimal disruption.
Very limited Tube services on the outer, above ground stretches of the Central and Metropolitan line started running later in the morning.
The London Overground and most national rail services also continued to operate, although some major rail interchanges such as Farringdon were closed due to the RMT action.
TfL’s online journey planner and its TfL Go app appeared to be struggling under the weight of searches, failing to load, returning error messages or no results on early Monday morning.
The worst impact for congestion and transport is expected on Tuesday, with more Londoners still typically working from home on Mondays and Fridays.
Docklands Light Railway trains will also not run on Tuesday or Thursday because of strikes arising in a separate dispute.
AroundAbout 10,000 member of the RMT are taking industrial action in the Tube row, as the union attempts to secure a shorter working week as part of pay negotiations.
TfL has made a pay offer of 3.4%, which it urged the union to put to its members in a fresh ballot. It has said it cannot not meet demands to cut hours below the current 36 per week.
An RMT spokesperson said:
We are not going on strike to disrupt small businesses or the public.
This strike is going ahead because of the intransigent approach of TfL management and their refusal to even consider a small reduction in the working week in order to help reduce fatigue and the ill-health effects of long-term shift work on our members.
Nick Dent, London Underground’s director of customer operations, said the demands were “simply unaffordable” and called on the union to end its action, warning:
It will be very damaging for us.
Support for the union came from the 4 Day Week Foundation. Joe Ryle, campaign director, said:
It’s a bold and necessary stand, and these workers deserve widespread support. The five-day week is a century-old model that no longer reflects how we live and work today.
Commuter misery: Tube strikes and website issues
Commuter misery deepened this morning as the Transport for London website crashed, on the first day of a week of tube strikes.
People clicking on specific lines to find out more about the impact of a five-day strike by the RMT union were greeted with an “internal service error” message earlier this morning.
This appears to be fixed now, but the journey planner section on the TfL website is still not working.
The series of strikes will mean almost no tube trains running until Friday, with other transport in the capital likely to be affected by crowding and congestion.
The RMT union has batted back pleas to call off the industrial action, involving about 10,000 workers, as it attempts to secure a shorter working week as part of pay negotiations.
London’s other rail services – the Elizabeth line, London Overground and National Rail services – will continue to run, as will buses. Some central rail stations with tube interchanges will be closed.
Shelly Asquith, health & safety policy officer at Trades Union Congress, said on X:
A very good morning to all London Underground workers on strike today
Fatigue from long hours and extremely early or late shift work takes a major toll on the body, increasing likelihood physical and mental health conditions
You deserve better! #tubestrike @TfL @RMTunion
— Shelly Asquith (@ShellyAsquith) September 8, 2025
Economist Ben Ramanauskas, a former government adviser, said:
The @RMTunion shouldn’t be able to hold Londoners to ransom and stifle the UK’s economic growth. As much of TFL as possible needs to be automated ASAP. In the meantime the Tube should be declared an essential service and its workers banned from striking.
— Ben Ramanauskas (@BenRamanauskas) September 8, 2025
New business secretary Peter Kyle going to China for trade talks this week
The UK’s new business secretary, Peter Kyle, will fly to Beijing this week as part of Keir Starmer’s continuing efforts to revitalise the UK’s trade relationship with China and provide growth to the British economy.
The former science and technology secretary, who was promoted in Friday’s government reshuffle, is expected to land in China on Wednesday, picking up the schedule of his predecessor, Jonathan Reynolds, who is now the chief whip.
Kyle was due to fly to Washington on Sunday evening as part of the preparations for Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK and then meet in Beijing with the Chinese minister of commerce, Wang Wentao, at the first gathering of the UK China joint economic and trade commission (Jetco) for seven years.
Introduction: US tariff tensions hit Chinese export growth, slowest in six months; oil prices climb
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
China’s export growth slowed to the lowest in six months in August, as Beijing shipped less to the US amid tariff tensions.
Exports from China rose by 4.4% year-on-year, according to official figures, less than economists had expected, and down from July’s better-than-expected 7.2% increase. Imports grew by 1.3%, down from a 4.1% rise in July.
Beijing’s shipments to the US fell by 33% while exports to southeast Asian nations rose by 22.5%. Policymakers want manufacturers to shift to other markets in light of Donald Trump’s erratic trade policy.
The US president delayed sweeping tariffs on China in mid-August, announcing another 90-day pause just hours before the last agreement between the the world’s two largest economies was due to expire.
Trump had threatened tariffs on China as high as 245%, with China threatening retaliatory tariffs of 125%. However, Chinese imports are subject to a a baseline tariff of 10% and a 20% extra levy in response to fentanyl smuggling allegations against China. Some products are taxed at higher rates.
China’s trade surplus rose to $102.3bn in August from $98.2bn in July, but below June’s $114.8bn. Analysts are waiting to see whether officials will rollout extra fiscal support measures in the fourth quarter to revive domestic demand.
Separately, Germany’s exports fell unexpectedly in July while industrial production rose.
Shipments from Europe’s biggest economy dropped by 0.6% from the previous month, against economists’ forecasts of a 0.1% gain. Imports were also down, by 0.1%. The country’s foreign trade surplus reduced to €14.7bn from €15.4bn in June, and compared with €17.7bn in July 2024.
On a brighter note, German industrial production rose by 1.3% in July.
Oil prices climbed, recouping some of last week’s losses, after the oil cartel Opec and allies such as Russia, known as Opec+, agreed over the weekend to raise output at a slower pace from October on expectations of weaker global demand. The possibility of more sanctions on Russia, a major oil exporter, also rose after Moscow’s overnight strike on Ukraine.
Brent crude rose by 1.5% to $66.45 a barrel.
On Sunday, eight members of OPEC+ agreed to lift production from October by 137,000 barrels per day, far below the monthly increases of 555,000 bpd in September and August, and 411,000 bpd in July and June.
The Agenda
