SENIOR government ministers, officials, experts and former advisers who helped draft the new anti-strike legislation repeatedly rubbished the plans, Labour revealed today.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper admitted to a select committee last month that minimum transport service legislation is “not a solution to dealing with the industrial action we see at the moment.”

He said: “While that legislation may well improve the service that passengers receive on strike days, my priority is to try to ensure we resolve the industrial dispute, so that passengers don’t have strike days.