Rail strike: Mick Lynch shreds the MSM hacks

Yesterday, 21st June, was the summer solstice. It was also Mick Lynch day. Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT was on the picket line with his members on the first day of the national rail strikes. He and his members are fighting for a decent pay rise in the face of 9% inflation, worsening terms and conditions, and redundancies, which the rail employers are trying to push through at the behest of Boris Johnson's government.

But he also spent much of the day on television being 'interviewed' by mainstream media hacks such as Kay Burley from Sky TV. The questioning Lynch faced was predictably hostile but also largely inane. The sort of 'political' inanity that 'journalists' routinely get away with in the UK. Stupid questions designed to embarrass and undermine someone standing up for workers taking industrial action. 

Richard Madeley, on GMB, kicked off by asking Lynch if he was a Marxist. Apparently, this came from a Tory MP. Lynch replied that Madeley was talking "twaddle" much to his questioner's dismay. I doubt that the MP or Madeley have a clue what Marxism is but this is a routine line of attack used by the hard right to undermine leftists and trade unionists.

Then we had Burley interviewing Lynch on a picket line. He was standing in the sunshine with half a dozen pickets. She asked him if he was "flustered", an odd question when he was clearly calm and collected, and then referred to the miner's strike as if the peaceful picket behind him was the Battle of Orgreave. " I can't believe this line of questioning" - he dealt with her superbly, stuck to the facts, and left her looking flustered.

One of the many highlights of the day was a session with Chris Philp, Minister for Technology, on Newsnight. Like all Tory ministers, Philp lied about the strike and Lynch told him he was a liar repeatedly. Top marks for that!

Mick's superb performance was lauded by many thousands on Twitter and he's still trending today. It was an object lesson in how to deal with the billionaires' kiss-ass 'journos'. A new term has now entered the English language - "A Mick Lynching". From now on 21st June should be known as Mick Lynch Day and be added to our calendars as a new bank holiday. Superb stuff! 😊

Rail Strike: The Government Can Afford Decent Public Sector Pay Rises

Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) are taking strike action over pay, conditions at work, and proposed redundancies. Predictably there has been a mainstream media fest of attacks on the striking union. We are told that many are being inconvenienced including students taking their exams, but what we’re not being told is that we have the highest personal tax in sixty years, the highest inflation in forty years, and a record number of people using foodbanks.

Meanwhile, the government is milking the strike for all it’s worth as a distraction from Boris Johnson’s #PartyGate crisis and the likely by-election losses in Wakefield and Tiverton on Thursday. Grant Shapps, who should be trying to resolve the strike, and could if he chose to, called the strike a stunt and refused to meet the RMT, even invoking the ghost of Harold Wilson to justify doing nothing.

All public sector workers are suffering

It’s not just the striking rail staff who are suffering from the cost of living crisis, all public sector workers are, including teachers and nurses, with some of the latter having to use food banks. Rising rents, fuel costs, energy bills and 9% inflation have produced a cost of living crisis which is hitting millions of workers very hard. So why isn’t the government giving workers a decent pay rise? The government and the Bank of England tell us that raising workers’ pay will push inflation higher but workers’ pay isn’t causing inflation. The main factors are: firstly, the fall in the value of the pound since Brexit has increased the cost of imports including fuel and other imported goods; secondly, energy and fuel costs have increased partly due to the Ukraine crisis but mainly due to profiteering by the fossil fuel companies. The impact of increasing pay will have little effect compared to these factors. As Richard Partington states in the Guardian:

“Despite the warnings of wages fuelling the inflationary fire, there is little sign of a wage-price spiral taking hold. The Bank of England reckons average pay growth across the economy, excluding bonuses, is between 4% and 6%. Although well in excess of pre-Covid rates, that is hardly shooting the lights out. With record job vacancies and unemployment the lowest in five decades – as well as the highest inflation for 40 years, which is heading to 11%, according to the Bank – it is perhaps more surprising wages haven’t spiralled significantly higher already.”

There is no money?

The other old excuse that the government gives us is that it can’t afford to raise public sector pay to meet workers’ needs – the old ‘there is no money’ argument. But this simply isn’t true. If the government were to give all public sector workers a decent pay rise of say 10%, most of that money would be returned to it. The reality is that the public sector pay rise will largely pay for itself. How? Because a significant percentage of that pay rise will be returned to the government through income tax and national insurance and, as the increased wages are spent and that money circulates around the economy, it is taxed further – it’s called the fiscal multiplier. For a fuller explanation of the affordability of public sector, pay rises see Richard J Murphy’s account here. The key point Murphy makes is that we can afford to pay for a decent pay rise for public sector workers without having to raise taxes.

Last October Boris Johnson told the Tory Party conference that Britain was on the path to a high-wage economy under his leadership. Not only is that not true but it’s likely that under his leadership the UK is heading for a recession. So much for levelling up. So, with the government’s mismanagement of the economy and indifference to workers’ struggles to put food on the table, it looks like we are facing a summer of discontent. We should get behind striking workers in the fight for a more equal society and a better economy for all.

*This article was first published in Critical Mass Magazine 0n 21/06/22

Boris Johnson the lame duck PM will cling on as long as possible

On Monday 6th June Boris Johnson won a no-confidence vote of Tory MPs. The vote was triggered by submission of letters by 54 or more Tory MPs to the 1922 committee. Many, including the MPs themselves were surprised by the outcome. Johnson 'won' with 211 votes to 148. That's 59 - 41%. The result was a disaster for Johnson who, despite what he thinks, is now a lame duck PM. 

Of course, after the vote was announced Johnson was back with the ususal blether and bluster saying he'd won and it was time to "move on". I couldn't help wondering how many cabinet ministers voted against him - assuming the ballot really was secret enough to keep their intentions safe.

So where do we go now? Johnson is safe for now but there are two byelections in Wakefield and Tiverton coming up on 23 June which the Tories are expected to lose. Will that be enough to spark another rebellion? I think it will, and I've no doubt that plotting to remove him is happening as I write this and that, next time, it will be much more effective. There are also ongoing investigations into Partygate which will damage Johnson further.

I'm confident that Johnson will be gone by the next general election but who will replace him? No doubt Jeremy Hunt will fancy his chances, and Liz Truss has been named as a favourite to be the next leader (!). The problem is that there are no obvious outstanding candidates and whover gets the job we can expect very little to change.

The Tories are devoid of any useful ideas that can help to improve conditions for people in the UK. They have already started blethering about tax cuts which is about all they can think of, but tax cuts will not solve the cost of living crisis, nor any othe other multiple crises we face.

Johnson's latest 'vote winner' is a plan to allow a right to buy for tenants who live in housing association properties. This is a barmy idea which will further reduce the stock of social housing and is unlikely to resonate with the electorate. 

The good news is that Johnson is going and that he has fucked up his career yet again. The bad news is that any replacement is unlikely to be better than him and could potentially be worse, not to mention the fact that we have nothing that could be desrcibed as an 'oppostion' in the UK.

The struggle for economic justice and equlaity goes on!

Rage Against The Tories! Join The TUC Demo On 18th June!

It is high time we demonstrated our rage against the Tories. The TUC has called a national demo on June 18th. This lying, cheating, corrupt government partied while millions were locked down and thousands died. Now they do nothing while energy giants enrich themselves on the back of war in Ukraine.

TUC Demo

Hedge fund speculators are driving up the cost of living. And now, when workers are fighting back, the Tories want to legislate against the rail unions in order to keep their gravy train running. So full marks to the union leaders for condemning the latest attack on our fundamental rights. Now it is up to us to build the national demo called by TUC.

Workers’ Rights

As part of Brexit, we had been promised a Bill of Rights for workers to replace our EU protections. Instead, the legislation in the Queen’s speech on 9th May was more like a Bill of Wrongs. Trade union disappointment turned to anger when it became clear that in addition to broken promises on employment protection, the government had no plan to protect us against the inflation crisis.

When workers began to take action for themselves, and some of us started winning, the government response was a continuation of decades of attacks on the right of workers to have union protection. So, on Sunday, Transport Minister Grant Shapps announced he intends to introduce legislation to require ‘minimum staffing’ on the railways if rail workers strike. The announcement came as the RMT is balloting its 40,000 members on strike action because of concerns about job security, pay and conditions.

Manuel Cortez, the General Secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association said: “What we are seeing here is desperate nonsense from the Tories, who have chosen to attack working people in our union who kept the railways running every day of the pandemic. What the Government should be doing is putting in place measures to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.”

All this comes at a time when the government is planning to gut the rail system with cuts of £3 billion and thousands of job losses.

At the same time, it was reported that the Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, was ‘planning to loosen the grip of trade unions on schools’ by ‘bolstering’ the rights of teachers who choose not to join a trade union’ by allowing non-union members to be accompanied to a grievance or disciplinary hearing by a lawyer or other representative.

Thatcher’s Legacy

The UK has some of the most restrictive trade union laws in the developed world, a claim which has been rejected by the government but which was supported by Full Fact. The attack on unions began in earnest under Margaret Thatcher’s premiership in the early 1980s. Thatcher, who famously described the miners specifically and the labour movement more generally as “the enemy within,” went on to introduce heavy restrictions on the unions.

Downing Street papers from 1983, released under the 30 year rule, show that the true intention was to “neglect no opportunity to erode trade union membership,” in established industries and make sure that, “our new legal structure discourages trade union membership of the new industries.”

The Blair/Brown Labour government of 1997-2010 had every opportunity to repeal the Thatcherite legislation but failed to do so. Thatcher went on to describe Blair as her ‘greatest achievement’.

Join A Union

At a time when we are experiencing a cost-of-living crisis only strong, independent trade unions can protect workers’ rights and standards of living. Critical Mass supports the TUC Demo on June 18th, but we also recognise that it is trade union bureaucrats who have often been the barrier to strike action. Strong, independent trade union organisation can only be effective if it is organised at the grassroots level. The working class cannot rely on politicians or bureaucrats to fight our battles. We have to organise ourselves to defend and extend our rights.

*This article was first published on 25/052022 in Critical Mass Magazine. Thanks to MIke Stanton for his contribuion.

Footballer Jake Daniels Comes Out As Gay

Today, as I write this, it's May 17th, the International Day against homophobia, transphobia, lesbophobia, and biphobia (#IDAHOBIT2022), and I’m reading about Jake Daniels, the 17-year-old Blackpool footballer who has come out as gay. Daniels is the first UK footballer to do this since Justin Fashanu in 1990, and his announcement has been greeted with an overwhelmingly positive reaction. The Guardian reported on the praise and support he has received from players, ex-players, and pundits:

“Massive credit to you and the way your friends, family, club, and captain have supported you,” wrote the Tottenham and England forward, Harry Kane. “Football should be welcoming for everyone.”

While it’s good to see the backing Jake has had, we should be asking why in 2022 does anyone need to do this? Why indeed is it headline news and is it really of such interest whether anyone is gay or not? It was much more difficult for Fashanu thirty years ago and his life ended tragically with suicide in 1998 after he was accused of sexual assault.

While we must hope that Jake’s bravery in coming out will have a positive effect and encourage others we know that the LGBTIQ community remains under attack, and is suffering from a lack of government support in the UK. Whilst the Tories announced in the Queen’s speech a bill that would ban conversion therapy for gay people they failed to also include a conversion ban for trans people despite the fact that they had promised to do so.

The recent exposure of the pending Roe v Wade supreme court decision to ban abortion in the USA has sparked fears amongst the LGBTIQ community that they will be the next target with a ban on gay marriage. In Hungary, LGBTIQ citizens have been under attack by the Orban government which has tried to conflate homosexuality with pedophilia. In April the government held a referendum that asked voters whether:

“they supported four things: the ‘teaching of sexual orientation’ in schools without parental consent; the ‘promotion of sex reassignment therapy’ for children; the exposure of children to ‘sexually explicit media content’; and showing ‘media content on gender-changing procedures’ to minors.”

After a campaign by LGBTIQ groups and NGOs the referendum was declared invalid because 1.6 million people spoiled their ballots and, as a result, less than 50% of voters cast valid ballots. Whilst this is a notable victory for the community, the referendum was only called to back up an anti-LGBTIQ law that had already been passed.

In recent times, trans women have been a particular target for abuse and attacks on social media, and gender-critical ‘feminists’ have been actively campaigning against trans women being regarded as women. There is clearly some confusion between biological sex, male and female, and gender, women and men, the former is biology, and the latter being a purely social construct is about gender. The key problem here is the toxic nature of western culture which, although many like to regard it as fair and even sophisticated, is narrow-minded, backward-looking, and causes real harm to individuals and communities.

The indigenous people of America celebrated five genders in their societies. Instead of a dichotomy of male and female, they had a spectrum:

“In addition to the conventional male and female, the Native American people also recognised Two Spirit female, Two Spirit male, and Transgendered identities. Each tribe has their own word for these gender variants, but the concept remains the same throughout the Native American community.”

Not only are the gender concepts of these indigenous peoples much more sophisticated than our own, but there was also no prejudice directed at people who were not of the male and female genders or were homosexuals.

I wish Jake all the best and I hope he has a successful career. As for the inadequacies of western culture and the hate directed at people who do not conform to our narrow-minded view of humanity in terms of sexual orientation and gender, I’m not holding my breath. But, like many others, I’ll be working to build a better society where individuals of all genders and sexualities are respected and accepted as equals.

*This article was first published on 18/05/2022 in Critical Mass Magazine

Cost Of Living Crisis: Millions are Missing Meals

New data released today by The Food Foundation shows the shocking impact on families of the cost of living crisis, with millions of families going without regular meals. The data, based on a survey carried out between the 22-29 April, shows:

• a 57% jump in the proportion of households cutting back on food or missing meals altogether in just three months
• In April, 7.3 million adults live in households that said they had gone without food or could not physically get it in the past month, which includes 2.6 million children. This is compared with 4.7 million adults in January
• Food banks are reporting that users are increasingly requesting products that do not need cooking, as the cost of living crisis bites deeper and families cannot afford energy bills.

As the massive 54% increase in energy bill costs, raising the annual price for a typical home to £1,971 a year, hits families hard, the Foundation expects a further increase in fuel insecurity. And, as if this was not bad enough, energy bills are set to rise further in the autumn, as the energy price cap is set to rise again. In response to this, Keith Anderson, the CEO of Scottish Power said:

“Ten million poorer households needed bill discounts of £1,000: five times more than the government plans to offer in October”, and, “on our forecast, we could see the cap in October going to £2,900.”

Many people heard about a London pensioner, Elsie, when Susanna Reid challenged Boris Johnson about her predicament on GMB. The 77-year-old has one meal a day and travels on buses during the day to keep warm. Johnson, the former mayor of London, failed to provide any satisfactory answers but tried to take personal credit for the freedom bus pass for the over 60s, which he mistakenly thinks is a 24 hour pass when it is not currently valid before 9 am. Most of the credit for the recent scheme is in fact due to Gordon Brown, and it is paid for by the London boroughs.

Elsie is far from being the only person in dire straits. The Guardian reported today that folk in Downham Market, which has the highest proportion of over 65s in the country, were having to use the local library as a resource to keep themselves warm:

“This winter the library introduced free Keep Warm and Go bags packed with everything someone may need who was struggling to keep the cold away, including gloves, thermals, a scarf, blanket, and a hat.”

Fran Valentine, the library’s manager, said it had proved popular. “We’ve had a lot of people coming in and picking them up,” she said.”

As the crisis deepens, there is no indication that the government is going to take the actions necessary to alleviate it. The fossil fuel companies, Shell and BP, are reporting record profits, but there is no sign of a windfall tax or any further action from the government in the wake of Rishi Sunak’s paltry £200 loan and £150 council tax rebate.

The government needs to take urgent action now by taxing excess profits, raising benefits in line with inflation, increasing the minimum wage, expanding the provision of free school meals, raising the winter fuel allowance, and ensuring that a realistic rebate is provided across the board on energy bills. Will any of that happen? Despite the poor showing for the Conservatives in the recent local elections, there seems little prospect of Boris Johnson’s government taking any meaningful action.

* This article was posted on 10/05/2022 in Critical Mass Magazine

Roe V Wade Leak Sparks Outrage Across The USA

The Supreme Court of the USA (SCOTUS) draft majority opinion on Roe v Wade has been leaked to Politico. The leak sparked outrage and protests outside the supreme court building. Politico reported:

"The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision – Planned Parenthood v. Casey – that largely maintained the right. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” [Judge Samuel] Alito writes.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he writes in the document, labeled as the 'Opinion of the Court.' “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

The Roe v Wade SCOTUS ruling occurred in 1973 when Norma McCorvey ('Jane Roe'), a resident in Texas, challenged the state's ban on abortion. Wade was her local district attorney and McCorvey's lawyers filed a lawsuit alleging that the ban was unconstitutional. They won in Texas, but the state appealed to SCOTUS which ruled 7-2 that the constitution has a 'right to privacy' which protects a woman's right to choose an abortion.

Ever since that judgement, religious and right-wing groups have been working to overturn it. In recent times, since Joe Biden's win, Republican-lead state legislatures have introduced draconian anti-abortion laws. CNN reports that 13 states have enacted 'trigger laws' designed to come into effect if Roe v Wade is overturned by SCOTUS. Ohio is a state planning to bring in a law which would not allow a woman or a girl to have an abortion even if the child was conceived through rape or incest. Some states are even planning to prevent a woman travelling to another state for an abortion.

The assault on women's rights is not unexpected and it has been facilitated by Republican presidents, most recently Donald Trump, packing SCOTUS with conservative judges. But the Democrats also bear responsibility for the situation. In his 2007 election campaign Barack Obama promised to codify the right to have an abortion into law but failed to do so, despite having a majority in congress. In theory it is still possible for the Democrats to codify abortion if they remove the filibuster, but this looks very unlikely.

Unsurprisingly, many Twitter commentators are comparing the probable end of a woman's right to choose abortion to Margaret Atwood's book ‘The Handmaids Tale’, in which women are subjugated and forced to bear children for others. Atwood herself has commented, "It is really a form of slavery to force women to have children that they cannot afford, and force them to raise them".

What this judgement and the proposed bans show is that the right's 'concern' for the unborn child doesn't extend to children who have been born. Once they have been born, they can be abandoned to lives of hardship and poverty. If only they cared as much about children and adults as they appear to do about embryos and foetuses. Make no mistake, the right-wing groups that are attacking and undermining women's rights are Christian fascists with a patriarchal vision of society. If they succeed, what will be their next target? Expect further attacks on the LGBT community and PoC.

* This article was first posted in Critical Mass Magazine.