Following the knife attack on Saturday on an LNER train service, York MP Rachael Maskell, has spoken to the Home Secretary about her amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which would guarantee greater protections for transport staff.
The RMT also believes that there is a strong need for additional legal protections for public
transport workers who are abused or assaulted at work.
It has been supporting the amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill (NC11) tabled by Rachael Maskell which proposes to create a specific offence of assaulting or abusing a public transport worker at work.
It would also extend the maximum sentence from six to twelve months.
First-hand testimony of workers highlights the prevalence of violence and
abuse they encounter at work. For instance, a survey in the rail, bus, London
Transport and passenger ferry sectors found that nearly 60% had experienced violence at
work in the past 18 months, and of those, half had been threatened with violence, 10%
had been physically assaulted and nearly 90% had been verbally abused.
Rachael Maskell raised the issue again in parliament.
“With LNER headquartered in my constituency of York, I’ve written to David Horne, the managing director, to offer my support to him and pass on my best wishes to his crew.
“I also want to put on record my thanks to the signallers who made it possible to shift the train onto the other line (The platform at Huntingdon) who are also based in my constituency of York.
“Last summer, I sought to amend the Crime and Policing Bill with an amendment to provide greater protections for transport staff in the light of the increased risk they are facing, and with the bill about to enter committee stage in the House of Lords, will the Home Secretary look at my amendments again and ensure that we do provide those protections for transport staff?”
Shabana Mahmood replied: “ I’ll happily discuss with her the content of her earlier amendment, and even if not accepted for the bill, I’ll ensure that the policy question that she is raising is picked up by our colleagues in the transport department.”
