Union says postal strikes will go ahead from today

Postal workers' leaders have said national strikes planned to begin today will go ahead.

Communication Workers Union chiefs blamed management and the government for a failure to make progress to avert the strike action between today and tomorrow.

The two sides have met for more than 30 hours this week to try to break the deadlocked row over jobs, pay and modernisation.

Earlier, Conservative leader David Cameron accused the Prime Minister of "an appalling display of weakness" by apparently dropping legislation to reform the Royal Mail.

In rowdy exchanges at question time in the Commons, Mr Cameron said it required "leadership, some backbone and some courage" to prevent union militancy traits which, he insisted, Gordon Brown did not have to offer. And he urged the Prime Minister to "condemn these strikes and join me in sending a direct message to the trade union to call this strike off".

Mr Brown replied: "It's right for us in this House to urge negotiation and mediation. Our role must be to encourage the negotiations that are taking place, to urge those to go to Acas, when that becomes the right thing to do, and make sure we do everything in our power to get a negotiated settlement, to something that arises from the 2007 modernisation plan. It's in nobody's interest that this strike goes ahead."