PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

This RMT News should reach you shortly before you head to the ballot box to decide just what type of society you want to live in. Your union has long supported Jeremy Corbyn and although I am writing this before the full Manifesto has been released, we do know some of his pledges that we will have the opportunity to vote for come 8 June: • £10 an hour, minimum pay. • £500bn investment in infrastructure and industry, creation of a million good quality jobs. • A million new homes built over five years with at least half being council homes. • Ending of zero hours contracts. • Re-nationalised Rail & Mail and extend democratic social control over our energy. • Free education for all. • End privatisation and integrate the NHS and social care.£37bn more invested. • Clean energy, fair transition to a low carbon economy. • Progressive tax system for a more equal society, higher taxes for the 5% [ earners over £80,000]. Corporation tax cuts to be reversed. • Tackle all discrimination, violence against women and girls and secure real equality for LGBT and disabled people. • Full rights for EU citizens living and working in Britain- not allow them to be used as pawns in Brexit negotiations. • Conflict resolution and human rights at the heart of foreign policy. We have long seen the right-wing media continue to attack Jeremy at every opportunity. Recently we had the bizarre situation where Laura Kuenssberg from the BBC was supposed to be reporting on the complete U-turn by the government after concerted Labour pressure regarding the increase to national insurance for self-employed workers. What we witnessed was Ms Kuenssberg focussing on how JC didn’t attack Teresa May enough and how he “should have landed more blows” so the fact that it was his challenge that created the about turn was no longer newsworthy and we are seeing similar reporting bias right across the media. The great thing about live television is that it is much harder to spin what you are saying, Labour MP Emily Thornberry appeared on the Andrew Marr show recently alongside Tory MP Michael Fallon. She ended up telling the defence minister to stop making stuff up and that he was talking bollocks! Now that’s my type of politics...tell the truth and say what you think. Noam Chomsky, author of Manufacturing Consent: The political economy of the mass media, talked about the manipulation of the population through the media for many years. “Historically the media have proven highly efficient to mould public opinion. Thanks to the media, paraphernalia and propaganda have been created to destroy social movements”; he says it much better than I ever could. Jeremy Corbyn may have a task of historic proportions against him but I believe he can win this election. If he continues to be bold about his policies and not tone them down, put the people at the centre of all he does not try to compromise with his enemies in the Parliamentary Labour Party and the media, on 9 June we really could wake up to a socialist living at number 10. The most important thing is that we get rid of this "bloody working class-hating Tory government". I recognise that in some areas [especially Scotland] it won't always be a straight fight between Labour and Conservative. But I don’t really see that as a problem for us. Our current AGM political strategy states, one of the things we must consider regarding the supporting of candidates is “whether support for a candidate should make it more likely that there would be the election of another candidate whose election would clearly be more harmful to the interests of the union and its members”. Finally, I was wondering if the general public would really swallow the continuous “Strong and Stable” line that every Tory politician repeats on the hour every hour. Now I see that it’s just a “strong stable” they want for their horses as they get ready to re-introduce fox hunting...party of the people - tally-ho! “If we continue to keep our powder dry for much longer, we'll all be dead on the battlefield surrounded by barrels of dry powder” [Sean McGowan] Yours in Solidarity Sean Hoyle WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? President’s column RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may 2017 :: RMTnews 23