An outspoken Conservative MP has called out the RMT for striking unnecessarily, saying the union should be ashamed.

Priti Patel, Witham's MP, dug her claws into the Labour Party too for not condemning the strikes.

She said: “This strike is completely unnecessary. Most services already run with the driver operating the doors and with jobs being guaranteed, the RMT is using commuters and guards as pawns in their political games.

"While the RMT is out celebrating the strikes, commuters will be shocked to see the Labour Party has failed to condemn this industrial action.

"The Labour leadership stands on the side of the militant few and Jeremy Corbyn will always put the vested interests of Labour’s trade union paymasters above the hard working public.”

Greater Anglia had vowed services would continue as normal today and Thursday, should another strike happen.

It maintains that conductors will keep their jobs for the length of the franchise until October 2025 and say more will be recruited in 2019.

Ms Patel added: “Contingency plans were put in place by Abellio with staff from elsewhere being redeployed so the disruption that the RMT had sought, never materialised.

"Their members lost pay for being out of strike because the union called them out on false pretences. The RMT should be ashamed of itself.”