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  2. I’ve been really impressed with him, particularly when his straight talking shows the media political pundits to be the vacuous clowns that they are.

    • I agree – there really is a need for more people to stand up to the bullying narrative that espouses a dysfunctional and future-destroying socialism for the rich and raw capitalism for the rest.

        • That’s fine, J. I wasn’t trying to catch you out or anything. It’s just I’m a newly converted student of economics and am always interested in hearing views on why or why not a position is tenable/realistic. Mark Blyth, David McWilliams, Mariana Mazzucato and Kate Raworth are my go-to guys for providing an alternative to the neo-liberal consensus – i.e. a practical, progressive sustainable approach to economics.

          I’m sure the subject will come round again. Get well soon.

    • What, in that he’s supposed to doff his cap to rich rail company bosses and perpetuate the ridiculous myth that it’s OK for said companies to keep making ludicrous profits?

    • Absolutely. Yesterday’s poll showed that a majority supported the strikes, yet Starmer orders his shadow cabinet not to join picket lines. If he is just going to chase Tory votes by standing for nothing, he might get a few, but he will lose more of his base.

    • Really? I’m not at all sure that Labour would do better with a pro-brexiteer at the top. It certainly didn’t work out well last time.

      Fair play to Mick Lynch he has one job, for a specific set of people, and he’s doing it well. Keir Starmer’s job is to persuade people who’ve voted Tory since 2010 to vote Labour instead. Not really Mr Lynch’s skillset, I suspect.

      • This is my thing about the “we need a proper working class socialist” narrative around Labour leadership. Nothing against Mick Lynch at all, he seems like a smart, principled bloke doing a great job (albeit one with limited scope). But the only people who would be galvanised by him in a political leadership position are probably going to vote Labour anyway, and as we’ve seen in the last few years, when the party preaches to the choir, the congregation turn into Satanists (I may have lost control of this metaphor).

        I’m personally not quite convinced by Starmer, but if Labour goes back to talking only to itself, the Tories will be in government until the Rapture.

        I’ve been reading Harriet Harman’s memoirs recently (a surprisingly breezy and self-deprecating read, actually) and the one big takeaway for me is that Alan Johnson is the best prime minister we never had. A huge loss to frontline politics, and kind of the sweet spot between “authentically working class” and “liked by comfortable Hampshire pensioners”.

  5. Out of curiosity, does anyone know whether Lynch was a keen supporter of then RMT Secretary General’s Mick Cash’s call branches to affiliate with the Solidarity with the Anti-fascist Resistance in Ukraine campaign (SARU), which opposed the UK’s backing for the elected Ukrainian government ?

    Anyway, history aside, It was interesting to read someone yesterday asking whether, given that all railway employees are now effectively public sector employees, all their roles shouldn’t now be subject to the same job evaluation methodology applied in local government, the civil service, etc. After all, this is seen as pivotal in achieving equal pay.

    Some of you will doubtless remember the impact when Birmingham City Council was finally forced to recognise that their was no good reason, save historical gender inequality, why some roles were paid far more than others. I would be fascinated to see how some of the less technical roles filled by RMT staff would fare. Perhaps the employers should offer to pay a generous increase, on the proviso that the union agrees to a proper job evaluation. Only seems fair, after all.

    • You seem to be practically tumescent about the idea of working people suffering wage cuts or losing their jobs. Reminds me why I avoid political threads on the Afterword!

  6. His media style is a breath of fresh air and he’s made a lot of interviewers look like idiots over the last couple of days. The way he deals with dumb questions and attempted gotchas is a joy. I suspect it’ll only be a day or two before the stories of his questionable friends and more extreme affiliations come out, and some of them won’t be completely made up.

  7. There’s a Piers Morgan interview with Mick Lynch about the current rail strike on YouTube if anyone’s interested. Mick Lynch wipes the floor with Morgan. It becomes a cringe-fest towards the end because of Morgan’s idiotic questions. Mick Lynch reminds me of the late, great Bob Crow, who also used to make mincemeat out of hostile journalist’s.

    • He did indeed handle the increasingly petty and juvenile questioning from Morgan very well. His look of disdain.

      He dealt similarly with pompous arse Richard Madeley on Good Morning Britain, who shrivelled beautifully.

    • I loved the temporary amendment to his Wikipedia entry which read:

      “Mick Lynch (born 1962 is a British Trade Unionist. He holds the recored for the most arses handed out during his media appearances on 21st June 2022.”

  9. If that is a thinly-veiled contempt I detect Lynch holds for Johnson et al – and fan boys like Madeley and Morgan – I like it… and it is an attitude Starmer would be well-advised to adopt himself, and very soon.

  11. A few thoughts:

    * Mick Lynch has done a fantastic job running rings round the usual suspects these last few days. It’s nice to see such a common sense approach onscreen, and it’s no surprise it’s resonating with people. As Chiz says, probably some skeletons in that closet, but he’s at least shown how it’s done.

    * I’ve no problem with the strikes at this stage. Unions are an important protector of workers’ rights, and if they aren’t going to strike when their members are seeing their pay lag behind inflation in a “challenging” economy then there would be very little point in them. They’re doing what they’re meant to do.

    * That said, while I’m not an economist, I find the explanation that the government can’t give public sector pay rises at anywhere near the requested level because it would undercut their attempts to deal with inflation to at least sound reasonable. Obviously, a Tory government is never going to cave to striking workers regardless, but the reasoning here seems to make sense – particularly having watched the governor of the Bank of England pretty much beg the country at large to forego pay rises. If anyone has actual expertise in this area (i.e. actual economic expertise, not “I read this on the internet” expertise, or “here’s an article from my favourite partisan news source” expertise), and can explain how they increase wages without the risk of further fueling inflation (directly or indirectly) in this context then I’d be all ears.

    * What seems deeply unfair, given the above, is the handout being given to pensioners via the triple lock. We’re either all in this together, battening down the hatches, foregoing pay rises at inflation levels and weathering it out, or we’re not. If we’re not, then essential workers should be taken care of. I know that the triple lock is notionally a separate political and economic issue, and that this is just a consequence of it, but the optics are howlingly bad. Obviously, this is a purely political decision, and I understand that, but it remains a poor decision, and it’s the area I’d be applying pressure to if I were leading the opposition.

    * I think this week is the beginning of the end for Kier Starmer. The cost of living crisis is comfortably the biggest issue facing the average person in this country, and these strikes are tied to it. He doesn’t need to stand on a picket line, and it’s understandable that he’s still trying to exorcise the ghosts of his party’s long flirtation with its lunatic fringe, but to vanish from sight and offer nothing at a moment like this is exceptionally poor. I’m as big a fan of political pragmatism as anyone, but at some stage you have to ask: what’s the point of being in politics if you’re going to duck something like this? I also think the mood is probably shifting in the party: they’ve probably gone from thinking that they can’t lay a glove on Johnson so they may as well use the time to clean house to feeling that the government is genuinely vulnerable and they need someone who looks vaguely capable of being PM.

    • According to what I was taught, inflation can – in theory – be tackled either by suppression or diversion. The former would rely on price and / or wage controls to reduce spending. The Wilson and Callaghan governments tried this, first voluntarily and then by law. Nixon had a go in the 70’s in the US. It fell out of favour because it required a fair amount of business and union support which has rarely been a found in the UK or US. Acting of wages alone has little chance of success as it’s just asking people to sign up for reductions in real earnings levels. I recall wage policy in the UK being the genesis of company car plans – I can only give you a pay rise of 4% so here’s the keys to a new Cortina as a work around.

      The diversion approach tries to make investing and saving more attraction, taking the heat out of the economy by siphoning the inflationary pressure away. Which is why we’ve had 4 or maybe 5 base rate rises here in the UK since the start of the year. It’s slow acting and won’t work when some of the inflationary pressure is impervious to such tactics – so when geopolitical shifts push energy prices into orbit, or OPEC play silly buggers, it yields very little. More practically it’s bolloxed by things like banks immediately passing on interest rate rises on loans and mortgages but leaving savings rates alone; massive profit taking for them, but undermines the impact on inflation.

      The current gov’t stance on public sector pay has far more to do with funding than it does inflation; bumping public sector pay certainly wouldn’t help inflation, but they would rather push this line of argument than look at offering attractive savings rates – they’ve actively unpicked the offerings NS&I had here – bumping interest rates faster, which always pisses off their support base, and whisper it ….. tax increases which also take heat out of the system.

          • In the past the most reliable support for the Tories was from people of or close to pension age. They tended to be relatively conservative in their views and were also more likely to get out and vote in elections than younger people.
            Of course, that demographic is evolving. It’s possible that pensioners are becoming less likely to bother casting a vote as the ’50s and ’60s-born generations get to pension age

      • Pensioners being more likely to vote – or consider voting – Conservative than any other age group is a complete coincidence, and to suggest otherwise is, to be quite frank wiv you*, woke PC feminist snowflake remoaner communism.

        *©The Home Secretary

        • If I never voted Tory when there were proper grown-up politicians running things, however unpleasant, I’m hardly likely to vote for the current shower of rotters, pensioner or not.

          • When they do vox pops on the telly, they always find pensioners who are devout members of the Church of Boris. “Leave him alone, he’s doing a good job”.

            What’s that then? His job at the moment seems to consist of…. keeping his job. I suppose a lot of us have been in that kind of fix, but in most cases it’s not self-inflicted.

  13. Just before lockdown, the rail network was becoming intolerable. Frequent delays, cancellations, part-cancellations (where they booted you off the train miles from home because they couldn’t find a driver), shortfall of carriages, chronic and dangerous overcrowding, unhelpful staff (not all, certainly)…it was a nightmare. I was genuinely considering resigning from my job, as it was regularly taking 90 minutes to travel 20 miles. I saw people having panic attacks; a few people fainted from overcrowding.

    It’s obviously not as bad now. The overcrowding is nowhere near as severe, and there are certainly fewer cancellations/delays in the areas where I’m travelling (Northern Rail drivers still go missing on a semi-regular basis, though). WFH -even in a hybrid model – has changed train travel forever in this country. As a former Trade Union learning tutor, I definitely have sympathy for the strikers – the closure of all ticket offices, which has been mooted, would be extremely harmful.

    I’m somewhat torn between what is, fundamentally, a protection of workers’ rights and the need to slim down and modernise. No easy answers, and nobody ‘wins’.

  14. While I am excited by a straight-talking union person fighting the good fight and doing well in interviews – this doesn’t mean UK voters would vote for him, or someone like him.

    England is Conservative by default. The Conservatives consistently reflect the values of more voters than Labour. Under the FPTP system, only Labour get a chance to form a government in opposition to the Conservatives and they only get that chance when the Conservatives are catastrophically bad (check) and the Labour leadership team is stable and confident (sort-of check).

    Keir Starmer is someone a Conservative voter would be relatively OK with in the same way that Tony Blair was. There’s the charismatic Deputy who appeals to the Left and people like Yvette Cooper, Rachel Reeves and Emily Thornberry who do come across as ministers in waiting. Now is not the time to get excited, like we did when Corbyn got quite close to winning against Teresa May. I have said that I like Mick Lynch but that’s just me – I’d vote for someone like that in a heartbeat – but English voters outside of the urban areas will not vote for a party led by someone they perceive to be “too left”. I think that the Starmer/Rayner ticket will be the one to go with at the next GE.

    • Alas, I may not comment. This means, of course, that I hardly dare risk reading this thread, in case I should have to stifle a rant in reply – though you’re all doing very, very well so far (pats Afterword on the head).

      My contract with my employer states that I must not make public statements that may harm the reputation of the company. My union rulebook states that I should not speak to the public during disputes, but refer all matters to my full time officer. Given that I am currently being balloted, and given the employers’ hair trigger to litigate and invalidate mandates for industrial action, my best course of action is to say nowt. That may change, once this is all over.

      You may well imagine that holding back my many opinions is not easy! The next time we have a whisky/gazebo juxtaposition, I will enjoy saying more.

      BTW, note time of posting from the greedy, lazy train driver on his fat arse about to go on shift. (c) Daily Mail OOAA

  16. I’d never heard of him, didn’t know what RMT meant, and (get me) had never seen a Piers Morgan interview before this. My findings: He’s great. Why isn’t he leader of a Socialist Party you could vote for? Piers Morgan – why does this man have a job? I don’t care what his politics are. He’s fucking awful.

    • There is a difference between “a socialist party you could vote for” and a party capable of winning a majority and forming a government. I’m not a great fan of principles that – like my mother-in-law’s best china – are for display purposes only and unsullied by use.

      In the case of Mick Lynch, he was – and still is -an enthusiast for the act of national self-harm that was Brexit.

      He’s good at what he does and has, thus far at least, right on his side. Like everyone else, it has done my heart good to watch him deal with assorted ministers and commentators. Let’s not get carried away though.

  17. I’ve been hesitant about posting this, as we’re amongst friends and I don’t want a Class War kicking off. But, in the spirit of shared honesty, here goes: I have/had skin in the game.

    My (biological) father joined British Rail in 1974 as a trackside ‘navvy’ and, despite his best efforts at self-sabotage, was promoted to track welder by the late 70s. He eventually drove one of those maintenance trains which put down sections of track and used some almighty electro-magnetic welding thing to create a shower of sparks underneath.

    He also joined the NUR (National Union of Railwaymen) and became an active member. By the turn of the decade he was a branch (line) secretary. I spent most of my school-age years absolutely skint and miserable because he’d either be on strike, or on a picket line ‘in sympathy’ with some other striking union – electricians, the water board, nurses, firemen, miners, you name it – he was there (and not working, nor getting paid).

    I’ve seen trade unions, and the PLP, from the inside and they are (were, anyway) just as conniving and backstabbing as the PCP. I only met one person I could trust, a Labour shadow cabinet member, who left to live in New Zealand after 1983.

    I’m all for collective bargaining, and Mick L seems to be clever and – importantly when dealing with the likes of PM or the PM – on top of the detail.

    My only advice to ML would be: set achievable goals and be pragmatic about it. Striking for a decent living wage is a perfectly acceptable request. Striking to get rid of Thatcher/Boris/Private Ownership: well, that’s what we have General Elections for.

    Every single NUR get-together I ever attended – without fail – ended up spiralling into a call for a Socialist Worker’s utopia, when all they actually wanted was a pair of safe workboots with steel toecaps.

    It’d be like me going on strike until Hooky rejoined New Order, and The Smiths and The Jam reformed, and they all played a comeback gig in my back garden. Lovely dream, but it ain’t gonna happen, no matter how many burning oil drums and flags I stand beside.

    • That’s the strength of ML. He has achievable goals and is pragmatic. A 7.2% pay rise is below the current inflation rate and the companies have made more profit. Remove the threat of compulsory redundancies and he’s willing to talk about changes in working practices. He is not trying to overthrow the government whatever RM, PM or KB might think.

    • I can empathise with your post Steve. I have some insight having dealt with a variety of unions, as well as employee councils and other lower calorie versions of organised labour.

      All too often I found myself sat between the industrial relations equivalent of rutting stags – both sides determined to prove their potency, both losing all too rare brain cells each time they banged their heads together. I had the good fortune to work with a few pragmatic, grounded union officials who put common sense before ideology and worked minor miracles for their members. A total validation of why collective bargaining should exist if undertaken by adults.

      Sadly there was never any shortage of company asshats – indeed it seemed to be the prime requirement for promotion. Put a crusading employee rep or official in the mix and it was like trying to supervise two toddler groups who haven’t had their afternoon nap. All too often I saw companies treating their people shabbily only to be let down all over again by union officials who more interested in parading their radical socialist credentials than actually putting some graft in and getting a bit of deal for their members.

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