Tory leader says he would restrict right to strike in essential services

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Rail union warns of national strike in wage dispute

A Tory government would introduce fresh restrictions on strikes in public services and restore the right of companies to dismiss instantly workers who take industrial action.

Iain Duncan Smith signalled his wish yesterday to crack down on unions and force them to keep the trains running.

Accusing the Government of "a major error in the last four years which is watering down legislation", he said: "There's no flexibility at the moment, the unions call the shots and off they go and have their strike." The Conservative leader said he would introduce legislation which would apply to hospitals and schools as well as railways.

The Tories' review of industrial policy will examine measures to restrict the kind of industrial action that train unions can take to "working to rule", aimed at keeping the trains running at peak times.

Mr Duncan Smith said he would scrap the 1999 Employment Act, which ended the right instantly to sack workers who strike, requiring employers to wait eight weeks.

"Unions are much more powerful and less restricted in the way they behave," he said.

The policy was condemned by union leaders, who accused the Tories of reviving discredited Thatcherite policies.

John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "After only a few months Iain Duncan Smith's mask of respectability is already starting to slip. It's quite clear that despite the war of words IDS is as backward-looking and reactionary as his Thatcherite predecessors. How can he pretend to stand up for the ordinary man and woman in the street when he is attacking the very organisations that give them a service?"

The Tories said that under Labour the number of strikes has been rising. In 1997, 234,000 working days were lost to strike action, compared with 354,000 in the first 10 months of 2001.