Rail baron Mick Lynch stirred outrage when he said that Ukrainians ‘playing with Nazi images’ encouraged Russia’s barbarous invasion.
The general secretary of the RMT, which is organizing railway strikes this month, also said that “there were a lot of corrupt politicians in Ukraine,” implying that this was what was driving Vladimir Putin’s attack on the sovereign state. ‘The EU also caused a lot of turmoil in Ukraine,’ he stated in an interview with the New Statesman. It was all about being pro-EU and all that,’ he claimed, alluding to the pro-EU protest that deposed Putin buddy Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
‘In Ukraine, there were many crooked politicians. And, at the same time, there were a lot of individuals [in Ukraine] toying with Nazi iconography, harkening back to the [Second World] War, and so on. So it’s not simply that this material came from one source.’
The magazine and social media users then said he was adopting a similar method to Kremlin propaganda, which has seen Putin apologists justify the atrocities against the people of Ukraine.
Since Russia’s bombardment and ongoing strikes on Ukraine’s major cities, 5,024 Ukrainians have been murdered, and 12 million have left their homes.
In light of the extraordinary aggressiveness, social media users, including those on the left, have criticized Mr Lynch’s statements.
‘It absolutely stinks that the UK’s most remarkable union is managed by Putin apologists,’ one user commented.
‘Why do all the brilliant union communicators have to be Putin accomplices,’ remarked another.
He was also chastised for his views on China, which lately seemed to threaten Taiwan with unfriendly action.
‘I’m not sure whether what The Telegraph and American policy writers are telling me about China is real,’ he remarked.
‘We were told Saddam Hussein posed the biggest danger to the Western world in history… all he actually had was a very harsh dictatorship against his own people and a collection of pots and boilers stitched together as so-called Scud missiles.’
‘All of this was conveyed to us by the same experts who are now telling us that China intends to perpetrate all of this violence against all of these people.’ We should cease being so aggressive against nations.’ ‘Very terrible,’ said human rights campaigner Drew Pavlou. Mick Lynch’s views on the economics and social justice are very appealing to me.
‘However, he has no idea about Russia or China.’ In this interview, he even dismissed the Uyghur Genocide. Why should we cease worrying about injustice because it occurs elsewhere?’
The CEO and cofounder of Hong Kong Watch, which monitors human rights, freedoms, and the rule of law in Hong Kong, also spoke out against Mr Lynch.
‘Totally terrible, horrible, wrong-headed opinions by Mick Lynch,’ stated Benedict Rogers. Mick, it was Vladimir Putin, not the EU, that invaded Ukraine.
‘We must constantly be modest and self-critical, but this does not imply condoning harsh, murderous tyrants or caving in to bullies.’
‘Rather than appeasing Putin or the CCP, Mick Lynch should concentrate on negotiating a fair agreement for railway employees and having our trains operating again.’ According to the Telegraph, the RMT and assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey have previously expressed support for pro-Putin separatists and signed up to Stop the War, which has criticized NATO for showing “disdain for Russian concerns” in eastern Ukraine, where separatists have been attacking the country’s troops and civilians.
When Mr. Dempsey visited in 2015, he uploaded a photo of himself with Aleksey Mozgovoy, the head of the pro-Russian insurgents in the Luhansk People’s Republic.
Brendan Kelly, another RMT regional organiser for South Wales and South West England, was also caught spreading pro-Putin propaganda during the conflict.
Mr Lynch’s remarks came during a 24-hour strike by the drivers’ union Aslef.
Grant Shapps said in an interview with the Daily Mail that he has been covertly working on a multi-pronged plot to permanently defeat hard-left union bosses.
He is going to present them with Section 188 legal warnings in the coming weeks in order to compel improvements such as guardless trains.
In addition, he said that legislation mandating a minimum number of trains to operate during future strikes is “prepared and ready to go” for the incoming prime minister to push through Parliament by the fall.
‘It won’t make me popular with the unions, but I’m absolutely certain passengers are on our side, they’re fed up with this and want to see the train service functioning properly,’ Mr Shapps said.
‘We’re going to win…’ I’m afraid this is the unions’ final stand. Their days of taking travellers hostage are over.’
The RMT has turned down an 8% pay increase from Network Rail for this year and next, which Mr Shapps described as “quite excellent.” Network Rail has given the union a section 188 notice, which means it may begin imposing changes without its permission.
However, Mr Shapps said that the notifications would be delivered on behalf of 15 railway companies servicing the majority of England within the next few weeks.