Corbyn backs rail strikers facing job losses while ‘billionaire class’ grows

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FORMER Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he is backing the rail strikers because they are facing job insecurity.

In an interview with GB News, he said: “I’m here today to support the rail workers because they are faced with job losses, insufficient pay and insecurity of the future.

“That can’t be right. They’ve taken a vote by an overwhelming majority to authorise the union to call strike action. They’ve done that straight.

“I’m here to support because in reality, the RMT today is speaking for an awful lot of other people that are worried about their own future, about their jobs, and about low levels of pay in this country at a time of very high inflation.

He added: “This sort of idea of a union baron is really weird. Mick Lynch was elected as the general secretary of the union. He’s up for re-election at some point in the future. There was a democratic mandate there.

“The union consulted its members by ballot, publicly accountable ballot. Far more people voted than vote for politicians in any election. They have the authority to take the action.

“I think there should be some respect for that democratic process. We have a cost of living crisis. We have more people accessing food banks than ever before. We have more food banks than are branches of McDonald’s in this country.

He added: “We have a mental health crisis. We have people living in desperate poverty, and we have the growth of the billionaire class in Britain.

“Surely there is a bit of an answer here. One is to close down the tax havens. Secondly, tax those that can afford to pay more at the top end in order to pay for the improvements we need in public services, and bring these heavily subsidised monopolies into public ownership.”

Asked if Keir Starmer should be doing more to support them, he said: “I think that’s what the Labour Party should always be talking about, it’ll resonate with people as to where they are, those people that are having trouble paying their bill when they get to the till at the supermarket. They’re the people we should be speaking to.”

On who he favoured as the new Tory leader, Mr Corbyn said: “That’s up to them to decide whatever they want to do.

“I just advise them to read the history of Ted Heath and Margaret Thatcher, both of whom tried to bring in the most draconian anti-trade union laws and ended up losing.”