Mick Cash, RMT General Secretary, said "Whilst RMT is not against night running of the tube in principle, provided all staff involved are properly rewarded and that safety and security is thoroughly worked out and agreed, the truth is that the Mayor threw this plan in as a diversion from his massive cuts and closures programme that will axe a thousand staff and decimate services and safety.

Instead, this proposal is now being bulldozed through without any proper risk assessment or agreement on core issues. To make this plan work we need more tube staff not less if we are not going to be risking disaster at three o'clock in the morning when the West End is flooded with thousands of people fresh out of the pubs and clubs.

RMT does not believe it is an accident that this announcement comes on the day that thousands of our members begin an overtime ban on the tube over the attack on jobs, pay and safety.

As it stands at the moment the night tube plans are not properly thought through, are being used to divert attention from the massive cuts programme and are a disaster waiting to happen."