Government on track to lower minimum age for train drivers to 18 in Great Britain
Labour will introduce legislation to lower the minimum age for train drivers to 18 in the House of Commons this week, as figures show fewer than 3% of drivers on Great Britain’s railways are under 30,The government is pressing ahead with its proposals for teenage recruits, lowering the minimum age from 20, in a move that ministers hope will stave off a potential shortage of thousands of drivers,A looming mass exodus through retirement threatens to intensify driver shortages and worsen train reliability, with a lack of crew already a big cause of late-notice cancellations,The current average age of Great Britain’s 24,000 train drivers is 48, and about 25% of them will reach retirement age before 2030,According to a National Skills Academy for Rail report, that could mean a shortfall of 2,500 drivers in four years’ time.
While a number of train drivers continue to drive into their 70s, most retire well ahead of the state pension age as they become eligible for a railway pension at 62.Almost two in five train drivers in Wales, which has the lowest life expectancy in Britain, are over 55.The latest workforce survey, published in Department for Transport assessments last month, showed that fewer than 3% of train drivers in Great Britain are under 30 years old.The train drivers’ union Aslef, which has long campaigned for the minimum age to be lowered, admits members up to the age of 35 in its youth wing.Aslef said bringing 18-year-old drivers into the cab would not only help the railway recruit the numbers it needs but also increase diversity and better reflect the communities it serves.
Rob Kitley, 31, the chair of Aslef’s young members committee and a driver with GWR, said it was “fantastic to see the legislation now being put in place”.He said: “As young train drivers we have been campaigning for this change for many years, in order to level the playing field and bring our industry into line with other parts of public transport, such as buses and the London Underground.“By widening the goalposts to allow younger candidates to join the driving grade, we open the door to new talent which may otherwise have been lost.”The government declined to comment ahead of an expected announcement.However, discussing proposals last year, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said they would help in “future-proofing our railways against delays and cancellations caused by a shortage of drivers”, and also drive growth by “getting young people into the workforce and putting them on track for a skilled and fulfilling career”.
The move to a nationalised and integrated Great British Railways may have eased the change, with train operators on limited franchises sometimes reluctant to invest in training younger drivers – regarded as more liable to change jobs than midlife joiners, often ex-service personnel.Aslef has argued, however, that recruiting younger drivers will increase diversity, with more people joining straight from school.Dave Calfe, the union’s general secretary, said: “At the moment, many young people make their career choice at 18 and the industry misses out.This change will widen the opportunity for the rail industry to recruit the large numbers of train drivers required over the next five years.”Getting a job remains challenging, with competition for places, psychometric tests and 12 to 18 months of training.
Average salaries are about £70,000,Drivers are already able to start at 18 in other parts of Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands and France,Curiously, teenage train drivers may soon be allowed on either side of the Channel, but not to drive trains through the tunnel that connects them, because of a bilateral agreement between the UK and France,
Futile resignations and blatant revisionism to the fore as Starmer staggers on | John Crace
Not another one. On Sunday it was Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, who took one for the team by resigning over the Peter Mandelson appointment. On Monday, No 10’s head of communications, Tim Allan, did likewise without offering much by way of an explanation.Presumably it was another effort to delay the inevitable. “We need a futile gesture, chaps
Streeting wrote off his re-election chances in WhatsApp exchanges with Mandelson
Wes Streeting predicted he would be “toast” at the next general election, according to private WhatsApp messages exchanged with Peter Mandelson and published by the health secretary in an effort to draw a line under his relationship with the disgraced peer.In the messages, Streeting said the government lacked a growth strategy and questioned No 10’s communications operation – remarks that appeared to form part of an effort to position himself for a potential leadership contest.The prime minister’s grip on power was pushed to the brink on Monday after Anas Sarwar, Labour’s leader in Scotland, called for him to stand down before the May Scottish parliamentary elections, citing “too many mistakes” by the UK government.Streeting, regarded as a potential leadership contender should Starmer go, had a close friendship with Mandelson that, after the scandal that erupted last week, threatened to be a significant liability to his ambitions.Allies of the health secretary said the WhatsApp messages, sent between August 2024 and October last year, showed he had “nothing to hide” about their relationship
Peter Unwin obituary
My father, Peter Unwin, who has died aged 93, was a distinguished diplomat, author and commentator on foreign affairs. His main area of expertise was central Europe, and he was posted to Budapest twice, first as third secretary (1958-61) and then as ambassador (1983-86), hosting the visit of the then British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and encouraging the opening up to the west. In 1991, he wrote Voice in the Wilderness, his biography of Imre Nagy, the reformist Hungarian prime minister, who was executed for standing up to the Soviet Union.Throughout his life Peter championed the causes of democracy, international norms and the rule of law. His first job in the Foreign Service was in 1956 in the Levant department
Sarwar has shown his ruthless streak. But will his swipe at Starmer mean anything to voters?
Anas Sarwar has shown he has a ruthless streak. Once one of Keir Starmer’s staunchest cheerleaders and allies, the Scottish Labour leader is now the most senior party figure to call for him to quit.Despite anger among his colleagues and criticism that his decision to demand Starmer stands down was “idiotic, immature and self-defeating”, Sarwar’s political calculation is blunt and uncompromising.Sarwar and his advisers, having watched Scottish Labour’s polling figures plummet as the disarray inside the UK government deepened into chaos and then crisis, believe the risk of calling on Starmer to quit is justified.Sarwar, by delivering a better result in Scotland at the 2024 general election – winning 35
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar calls on Keir Starmer to stand down
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has called on Keir Starmer to stand down, throwing the prime minister’s leadership of the country into serious peril.At a hastily arranged press conference in Glasgow, the senior Labour politician said: “The distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.”Sarwar said there had been “too many mistakes” by No 10 since Starmer came to power and that while the prime minister was a “decent man” he was undermining Labour’s ability to win the Scottish parliament elections in May.The Scottish party leader is said to be furious that the UK government’s decisions have severely damaged support for Scottish Labour, with the SNP’s John Swinney now appearing to be on course to stay in Bute House.Recent opinion polls show Labour trailing in third place behind the Scottish National party and Reform
Planning ahead: the political leadership campaigns that launched too soon
As any political adviser worth their salt will attest, it’s never too soon to start privately preparing for your candidate’s future leadership bid.Yet going too early with registering that all-important website risks telegraphing one’s intentions even before the starting gun has fired.Whoever is behind the site bearing her name, Angela Rayner is now facing awkward questions after it emerged that an unfinished site apparently touting her for Labour’s top job had briefly appeared online. Rayner’s team has dismissed the discovery as a “false flag” operation, but it does not appear to have been deliberately shared or leaked to journalists or political figures.The appearance of a site under construction in these circumstances is rare – but there is a long history of URLs being registered
Cylla, Birmingham: ‘Maybe the best potato side dish being served in the UK today’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Spice up your life! 17 soups with a kick – from chicken curry laksa to roast pumpkin
Helen Goh’s recipe for Valentine’s chocolate pots de creme for two | The sweet spot
Craft beer has gone stale: let’s hear it for age-old favourites | Richard Godwin
What a four-year-old taught us about the magic of baking a chocolate cake
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for pork ragu with herbs (for gnocchi or pasta) | A kitchen in Rome