THE Transport Secretary has accused Labour leaders of orchestrating renewed industrial action on the Southern network to create a difficult summer for the Government.

Chris Grayling claimed the threatened strike and work to rule action which resumed recently were being encouraged by a direct link to Labour Party leadership.

He was speaking during a debate into the Southern Rail crisis in the Commons yesterday afternoon.

Shadow rail minister Andy MacDonald said the claims were “complete and utter fantasy”, accusing the government’s “anti-union, anti-worker” stance of worsening relations while Labour’s Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle called for the secretary of state to resign for his failing in handling the crisis.

Conservative Arundel and South Downs MP Nick Herbert said the rail network required further investment beyond the £320 million the government had already committed which was backed by Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove, who called for an additional £1 billion in a debate on the Chris Gibb report into the failings on the Southern Rail network.

Green MP Caroline Lucas said highly trained rail staff had raised concerns about access and safety which had not been adequately answered and the buck stopped with Mr Grayling.

The Brighton Pavilion MP questioned whether a redacted part of the report might indicate whether GTR had breached its contractual obligations.

She called on the government to immediately begin preparations for a nationally-owned company that would be ready to step in and run the service, acting as a “stick” for GTR to improve.

Conservative MP Maria Caulfield said disruption in her Lewes constituency during peak tourist time had led to a 25 per cent drop for retail businesses.

She said there was much more Southern could do including declassifying first class on heavily congested services, having recently witnessed a pregnant woman told off for sitting in first class. She also bemoaned the fact that promised flexible season tickets had still not been delivered.

She also pushed the case for a second main line to London which would allow considerable works to be carried out on the existing rail line.

Mr Kyle said there was historic underinvestment on the south-eastern rail network which supported 30 per cent of passenger journeys but received just 15 per cent of investment.

He said Southern’s performance had cost Brighton and Hove Albion £1.5 million and Brighton Pride £140,000.

The Hove MP said the Gibb recommendation for a single rail system operator leader raised the question of what ministers were doing to lead to such a “leadership vacuum”.

Eastbourne’s Stephen Lloyd said women in his constituency felt unsafe travelling back late at night and parents worried about their children commuting to school on trains without a second member of staff. He highlighted the plight of disabled passengers including one disabled woman stranded for more than two hours at Hampden Park despite booking 48 hours ahead for disabled access.

He asked rail minister Paul Maynard to guarantee the government had not interfered or blocked a resolution to the dispute and said if the government had the “guts” to get unions and rail companies in a room, the issue could be resolved “within a week”.

Conservative Bexhill and Battle MP Huw Merriman welcomed the Gibb recommendation to transfer part of Southern’s services to Southeastern to bring about the extension of HS1 from Ashford to Bexhill, Hastings and Rye.

He also suggested using driver only operation trains could actually be safer as video technology could allow continued viewing of the platform even when the doors closed.

Horsham Tory MP Jeremy Quin said the Gibb report made clear that firing Southern as the operator to solve all issues was a “naïve” and could actually lead to “chaotic failure”.

Wealden Tory MP Nus Ghani pushed the case for Gibb recommendation for the electrification of the Uckfield line to ensure that commuters paying a 21st century price would get a 21st century service.