This footage was filmed and produced 30 September 2023.

Aslef's general secretary Mick Lynch said his union was targeting the Conservative Party conference for "industrial reasons". Mr Whelan joined rail workers on a picket line at London Euston station, alongside a cardboard model of Transport Secretary Mark Harper mocked up as the main character from the Where's Wally? children's books.

Mr Whelan said: "We've targeted the Tory Party conference – the start date and the finish date of it – not for political reasons but for industrial reasons. To say to (Transport Secretary) Mr Harper: we haven't seen you since last December. Where's Harper? Where's Wally? That's the thing today.

"I don't think the Tories care about rail at all. Everything's about car drivers at the moment. The fact they reduced the tax on airlines for short-haul tells you they don't want rail to compete."