when there is a suspension...

The Met controller made a very silly mistake regarding procedures during that failure yesterday. Not only that but he suggested something that is very much against the rules over the open radio channel, thus transmitting it to the entire fleet.

Luckily the driver stuck to his guns and did things properly. However had it been a new driver or someone not to well up on the rulebook they may well have done what was suggested - creating a huge safety risk and leaving themselves open to DB should something have gone wrong.

It really bugs me how they are so desperate to run a service that they try to coerce staff into breaching a safety procedure.

I agree - drivers are supposed to know the rules, so if the controller suggests they should breach them, they can point out they're not doing it as it's a breach of the rules. Problem solved.

Unfortunately, the attitude still seems prevail, that passengers are there as a distraction - and it doesn't matter if they get ripped off because Oyster is dodgy, or trains get canceled because the controller wants to go home and his relief is late and he doesn't want to wait 10 minutes to keep things running smoothly, or everyone's stuck in a tunnel for hours because a driver's not shown up to work.

Well, isn't the answer that the controller is disciplined, or at least brought to task and given a warning, for attempting to break procedure?

Managers (which Controllers are not) Signal Operators and Controllers face the same disciplinary procedures as anyone else. Controllers are more prone to be disciplined as all calls, radio and telephone, are recorded. After an incident, the controllers managers will usually be going through the tapes listening to how the situation was dealt with, and if there is any reason to think safety has been breached, that person will be dealt with. Like wise, anyone calling the Controller who makes an error, especially safety related, falls into the same category.
While people talk about safety and pressure, it may be worthwhile for these "experts" to go and see what a Controller or Duty Manager (Stations or Trains) actually does on a day to day basis. It isn't all feet up reading the papers and enjoying the easy life. I would never dream of doing the controllers job, the pressure these people work under on a daily basis would be too much for most. As we are all humans, yes mistakes do get made, and most of us have probably had to deal with the result of these.
With the boot on the other foot, perhaps we could also comment on some of the T/Ops and how they conduct themselves. It's not uncommon for one to have a SPAD and claim "tripped in the vicinity" , which is usually a blatant lie because they know they have had a SPAD but under union instruction claim a tripped in vicinity. Passing red signals and claiming something different is also a breach of the rules and puts lives at danger. If only everyone who worked for LU was so perfect, then we wouldn't need managers or controllers!

Maybe not on your line, but it happens on others, as it does it mine. Trackernet cannot be used to prove or disprove a SPAD, as it cannot be used for safety critical decisions! I take a lot of pride in my job as a T/Op, but cannot say the same about some of my colleagues.

regarding John's comments earlier in the thread, LU staff should be aware that those of us who do not work in safety-critical proffessions have the experience that health and safety rules have multiplied a thousand-fold over recent years. Our experience is also that bending or in some cases even breaking many, or in some aspects of life, most of these rules has all-but no impact on the safety risk experienced (imho this is a bad thing, as it leads to the breaking of rules that do have a genuine positive safety impact - cf the boy who cried wolf). In the absence of knowledge to the contrary (which not even all lay transport enthusiasts will have, let alone the general public) it is not unreasonable to assume that the rules railways run to can similarly be bent without compromising safety. This will be doubly true of those people who equate driving a train with driving a car (including a senior manager with a large railfreight company, who allegedly did not see why route learning was required) - and I challenge any car driver to say they have never broken the speed limit or other rule of motoring.

That is a fascinating addition to this thread (italic+bold my addition).
It seems all down to perception. There is a difference between doing something against the rules, and doing something you've never been told to before (i.e not in the book). Even that may not be the case here.

Prakash and Citysig are both trusted and responsible members of this forum - - and still there is a huge difference in interpretation of an occurrence.

One thing's certain - none of the rest of us are in a position to judge since we do not have the facts (and it's right that we don't here).