By asserting that Ukrainians “playing with Nazi images” incited Russia’s heinous invasion, rail baron Mick Lynch has incited outrage.
The RMT’s general secretary also said that “there were a lot of corrupt politicians in Ukraine” and appeared to infer that this was what drove Vladimir Putin’s attack on the independent nation. The RMT is preparing rail strikes this month.
He said in a New Statesman interview that “the EU also caused a lot of turmoil in Ukraine.”
He made reference to the pro-EU protest that led to Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster as president in 2014 and said that it was all about being pro-EU and everything else.
In Ukraine, there were many dishonest politicians. And while they were doing that, a lot of individuals [in Ukraine] were playing with Nazi images, reliving the [Second World War], and doing other things of the like.
Therefore, it’s not simply that this material has emerged from a single location.
The magazine and social media users afterwards said that he was using a technique akin to Kremlin propaganda, which has seen Putin supporters justify the horrifying atrocities on the people of Ukraine.
A total of 5,024 Ukrainians have died since Russia began bombarding and launching strikes on densely populated areas in Ukraine, and 12 million people have left their homes.
And because of the extreme aggressiveness, several social media users, particularly those on the left, criticised Mr. Lynch’s remarks.
It stinks that Putin supporters are in charge of the UK’s most remarkable union, one person said.
Another guy questioned why all the effective union communicators had to support Putin.
His opinions on China, which lately seemed to be threatening Taiwan with aggressive action, also came under fire.
I’m not sure whether what The Telegraph and American policy writers are telling me [about China] is real, he remarked.
We were taught that Saddam Hussein posed the biggest danger to the Western world in history, but in reality, he just possessed a brutal government against his own people and a stockpile of crudely constructed Scud missiles.
The same experts who are now telling us that China intends to engage in all of this violence against all of these people are the ones who first told us all of that.
We need to cease acting so aggressively toward other nations.
Drew Pavlou, a human rights campaigner, said: “Very terrible. Personally, I truly appreciate what Mick Lynch has to say about social justice and the economics.
But when it comes to Russia and China, he knows nothing. He also denied the Uyghur Genocide in this interview.
Why should we stop worrying about injustice simply because it occurs abroad?
Also speaking out against Mr. Lynch was the chief executive and co-founder of Hong Kong Watch, a group that keeps an eye on the country’s record on freedoms, human rights, and the rule of law.
Mick Lynch had some very revolting, nasty, and misguided opinions, according to Benedict Rogers.
Mick, it was NOT the EU who invaded Ukraine; it was Vladimir Putin.
“We should always be modest and critical of ourselves, but that should not equate to caving in to ruthless, murderous tyrants or giving in to bullies.
Instead of appeasing Putin or the CCP, “Mick Lynch should concentrate on negotiating a fair agreement for railway employees & having our trains operating again.”
The RMT and assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, according to the Telegraph, have publicly expressed their support for pro-Putin separatists and signed up with Stop the War, which has criticised NATO for demonstrating “disdain for Russian concerns” in eastern Ukraine where the attackers of the nation’s troops and civilians have been.
The head of the pro-Russian insurgents in the Luhansk People’s Republic, Aleksey Mozgovoy, was in a photo that Mr. Dempsey shared after visiting in 2015.
Brendan Kelly, a different RMT regional organiser for South Wales and South West England, also distributed pro-Putin propaganda throughout the conflict and was made aware of it.
The drivers’ union Aslef is now on a 24-hour strike; Mr. Lynch’s remarks coincide with this.
Grant Shapps said in an interview with the Daily Mail that he has been discreetly developing a multifaceted strategy to finally bring down hard-Left union bosses.
In order to drive through changes like guardless trains, he is getting ready to issue them section 188 legal warnings in the coming weeks.
The next prime minister will be able to push legislation mandating a certain number of trains to operate during future strikes through Parliament by the fall, according to him.
“I’m completely certain that passengers are on our side. They’re fed up with this and they want to see the train service functioning correctly,” Mr. Shapps said, adding that this won’t win me any favour with the unions.
“We’re going to prevail here…” I’m worried that this is the unions’ final stand. Their days of demanding ransom from travellers are numbered.
The RMT rejected an 8% salary increase offered by Network Rail for this year and next, which Mr. Shapps described as a “quite excellent” offer.
The union has received a section 188 notice from Network Rail, which empowers it to start imposing modifications without its agreement.
But Mr. Shapps said that within a few weeks, notifications would also begin to be sent on behalf of 15 railway companies that service the majority of England.