Hard left In yet another challenge to his leadership, Labour MPs defied leader Keir Starmer’s caution to disassociate themselves from rail strikes today.
Rebecca Long-Bailey, who campaigned against Sir Keir for the party leadership in 2020, was among those who visited picket lines when militant unions brought Britain to a halt. The Salford MP and Blackley and Broughton’s Graham Stringer joined RMT and TSSA workers in Manchester with defiance. Nationwide, more than 45,000 rail workers have walked off the job in a dispute over compensation.
Former party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is now an independent, joined MP for Coventry South Zarah Sultana on a picket line in London.
Despite a warning from a Labour frontbencher that their conspicuous support would not “solve this problem” or aid the party in gaining power, they voted in favor of the amendment.
Hard left MPs have previously joined picket lines, and transport minister Sam Tarry was fired after joining one in London last month.
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson stated on Times Radio, ‘We want to be the next government; therefore, if we were the government, we would be at the negotiating table resolving the disagreement; we would be a part of those negotiations.
I do not believe that forming a picket line will solve this issue.
“I believe it is important that we speak with workers who are affected by all of these cost-of-living issues, but my top goal is ensuring that we elect a Labour government capable of addressing some of the country’s major problems.”
When asked if Labour frontbenchers are permitted to stand on a picket line, Ms. Phillipson responded, “I haven’t had any discussions about that.”
Mr. Corbyn criticized the dismissal of Mr. Tarry by Sir Keir Starmer.
Speaking from a picket line outside London’s Euston station, the former Labour leader – wearing a black eye and broken lip due to a running injury – stated that Sam Tarry’s treatment was ‘very unfair’
Mr. Corbyn stated, “Sam is a trade unionist like myself; he formerly worked for the TSSA and walked a picket line in favor of his union and its members.
I believe it was quite unjust to terminate him from his shadow role.
He told Mr. Tarry, following his dismissal, that he was “extremely sad because he was doing a very good job and was attempting to establish a… much better national transport policy.”
The government of Boris Johnson today accused militant Mick Lynch of ‘keeping Britain hostage’ as he threw the country into fresh travel turmoil – as more than 45,000 rail personnel go on strike and push millions of commuters to WFH in another feared hammer blow to the UK’s faltering economy.
Thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime, and Transport (RMT) union, Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), and Unite have joined picket lines throughout the country in a protracted dispute over wages and working conditions, causing train operators to reduce their services by one-fifth today.
The current wave of strike action, which will see services end at 6.30pm tonight and Saturday, is expected to produce four days of travel hell for students receiving their A-level results today, as well as employees, vacationers, and music and sports fans.
Mr. Lynch, who has compared himself to Margaret Thatcher’s Communist arch-rival Arthur Scargill, declared class war at a demonstration in Westminster, and called for a general strike if Liz Truss is elected Prime Minister next month, has today vowed to unleash successive waves of mass industrial action until the unions reach a negotiated settlement with Network Rail.
This morning, while standing on a picket line outside London’s Euston station and raising his fist in solidarity with striking rail employees, the hardliner dispelled fears that millions of low-wage workers who must WFH “cannot afford for train workers to go on strike.”
This morning on Sky News, Education Secretary James Cleverly accused Mr. Lynch and his union colleagues of ‘keeping the country hostage’ They have a very, very high salary package and amazingly, insanely good terms and conditions, and what they are doing through these strikes is putting people who are trying to get to work, put food on the table, and maintain a roof over their heads at a disadvantage.
I believe Grant Shapps has made it abundantly obvious that these strikes are unfair and entirely improper, and that it is unethical for unions to hold people hostage in this manner.
The massive walkouts are anticipated to push millions of individuals who fought to enter their offices during the last nationwide strikes to work from home instead. Economists warn that if the unions decide to instigate another wave of strikes this winter, just as energy prices are projected to rise above £4,000 per year, millions of people could fall into ‘fuel poverty,’ as the country suffers the most severe squeeze to living standards in six decades.
It comes amid a rising cost of living problem fueled by Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, as inflation spirals out of control – exceeding 10% yesterday and forecast to surpass 13% by October – and the Bank of England anticipates a year-long recession beginning this winter.