Rishi Sunak has invited Britain’s trade union leaders to talks on Monday in an attempt to find a solution to the wave of disruptive strikes across the UK.

The UK prime minister said in a broadcast interview on Friday that government departments had written to the relevant unions inviting them for talks to begin on Monday.

Workers including train and bus drivers, nurses and paramedics have been taking industrial action to protest against real-terms pay cuts at a time of soaring inflation.

Sunak had previously said he wanted a “grown-up conversation” with the public sector unions on their next pay settlement for the 2023-2024 financial year.

The prime minister said he wanted to have conversations with the unions “about what’s affordable, what’s reasonable, what’s responsible” for the country.

“The most pressing economic priority we have is reducing the cost of living and getting a grip of inflation is the best way we can do that to ease the cost of living, not only for nurses but for everyone,” he said.

But Sunak’s offer to discuss the coming year’s pay settlement falls short of union demands for higher settlements for the current financial year.