RMT on BTP conference on violence on transport services:

General Secretary Mick Cash said.

"‎The public should be under no illusions. The whole object of policy on our transport services at the moment is to axe staff and that gives a green light to thugs, drunks and racists to indulge in their violent, abusive and anti-social behaviour.

"From chopping guards off the trains, to closing ticket offices on London Underground to cutting staff on stations and platforms the whole austerity and profit driven agenda is turning our transport system into a thugs and criminals paradise.

"RMT members left to pick up the pieces have been subjected to abuse and assaults on a scale that is escalating day by day and this union will fight those train companies and transport chiefs who talk about safety on the one hand while axing the very staff who are key to maintaining it with the other."