Who’s Driving Our Tubes?

As many as 300 London Underground staff are at risk of being deported after changes to immigration rules, it is feared.

And the Union is furious. No, Reader, not at the fact that these immigrants have taken jobs from British workers, of course not! 

More than 100 union activists, led by Mr Dempsey, mounted a protest outside the Home Office on Wednesday morning. MPs John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana also attended the demonstration, while Diane Abbott tweeted her support.

All the usual suspect, of course!  

Mr Dempsey told the protesters: “This is a really serious situation. We have got members working for Transport for London who are facing deportation in a few short weeks’ time.

”On Wednesday, Mr Dempsey accused the former Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, of making a “knee-jerk decision” toughening the rules on how long foreign-born workers can remain in the UK, in response to growing political pressure from Nigel Farage’s Reform party over rising immigration levels.

It does seem an answer to the questions of why so many Tube announcements are unintelligible, and why so little is ever done to prevent foreign fare dodgers from jumping the barriers - a significant proportion of the workers on the system are themdselves foreign!   

But what has caused this sudden change?

The new rules increased salary thresholds for visa sponsorship to £41,700 a year for new applicants and removed key transport roles, including station assistant, from the “skilled worker” list - meaning it is harder for some foreign workers to remain in the UK.

Many TfL station staff began their employment on the London Underground on two-year graduate visa schemes believing they could move into skilled worker positions.He said: “Our members were employed with the full expectation that they would become full British citizens and would be staying here. They have brought their families, and bought their homes here. Now they could be forced to leave.

Oh dear, how sad, never mind. 

“This is unfair. We are not for open borders. We are for a fair migration policy – one that is humane and fair and treats people properly. This doesn’t meet that test.

“So what we are calling for, as a bare minimum, is that this should be paused until the Migration Advisory Committee can finish its work. There should be transitional arrangements put in place.”

Good luck arguing that in this political and financial climate! 

More Huge Fines, Quicker!

And keep them coming until they learn!

Two academics behind a gender-critical film have taken legal action against their union, accusing it of discrimination and harassment after it campaigned on social media to stop the documentary being screened.

The film is part of a continuing debate about gender politics and free speech in UK universities. Last week, the University of Sussex was fined a record £585,000 for free speech breaches after a three-and-a-half-year investigation into the resignation of Prof Kathleen Stock, who was the target of protests over her views on gender identification and transgender rights.

O’Neill and Wayne, who describe themselves as gender critical, believe sex is a matter of biology, that it is impossible for a human to change sex, and that sex is important in a range of different political and social contexts.

Why are these beliefs 'explained' in the article as if they were fringe beliefs that aren't simply common to 99% of the population?  

They also do not subscribe to gender identity theory, “namely the belief that people are born with an internal sense of gender which may or may not correspond to their biological sex”, the documents state.

Again, just like 99% of the UK population.  

They claim these are protected beliefs and their union has discriminated against them contrary to section 57(2) of the Equality Act 2010.

The union is fighting back, of course. They've chosen a side, and it's one that hopefully will cost them dearly. 

The union – or respondent – denies it has discriminated against O’Neill and Wayne. Documents before the tribunal said: “The respondent’s conduct was proportionate and necessary in the interests of advocating the rights of others. Accordingly, the reason for any less favourable treatment was not the claimants’ gender-critical belief or lack of a belief in gender identity theory.” Denying harassment, the union’s defence stated: “The conduct of the respondent was to highlight its commitment to supporting its members that identify as trans or non-binary. The respondent’s conduct was proportionate and in line with its current support for its trans, non-binary and LGBT+ members.”

If this is your line in the sand, then I hope you have large coffers - it's going to be expensive.  

How Are We Going To Know..?

GPs last night threatened to strike...

Ahahahahaha! Good one!

....over a proposed NHS contract they say fails to pay them enough to see patients.

Well, since they haven't fully got back to seeing patients, why should they expect to be paid? 

The doctors’ union claimed the rates on offer do not take account of inflation – and vowed to take industrial action if the Government and NHS England refuse to renegotiate.

They should refuse. Call their bluff. 

The NHS is braced for strikes on four days out of five next week, with nurses, ambulance staff and physiotherapists walking out.

This is a concerted effort by unions to bring down the government. It can't really be anything else, can it? 

Compare And Contrast Again...

Humble rail workers:

Humble postmen:

*sigh* Lawyers:

Says it all, doesn't it..?

Nostalgia Is Overrated...

A wave of 1970s-style economic unrest is threatening to spread from the railways across the public services, as unions representing teachers and NHS workers warn of potential industrial action over pay.

OK, well, at least the music was great in the Seventies. We don't even have that!

...the National Education Union (NEU), told the Observer that unless it receives a pay offer much closer to inflation by Wednesday, it will be informing education secretary Nadhim Zahawi of its plan to ballot its 450,000 members. The move could lead to strikes in schools in England in the autumn, the union said.

The country’s biggest union, Unison, representing NHS staff, said the government now faced a choice between offering a deal close to inflation or triggering a mass exodus of staff coupled with possible industrial action in hospitals, at a time when they are already hugely overburdened.

Will we even notice? We've had two years without a service thanks to covid (with needs to be paid for, of course) and I think we can bear another, if it crushes the unions for good. 

It's Not 'A War On Motorists'...

Sadiq Khan could hike fares for London commuters by as much as 10 per cent from next year, it emerged today - as he was blasted for plans to expand the £12.50-a-day Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) and introduce pay-per-mile charges for motorists.

...it's the inevitable consequences of the Covid measures on all public finances.

TfL, which Mr Khan oversees, saw its revenues collapse by as much as 95 per cent during the pandemic, and another bailout is needed to cover next April after which the organisation is expected to become 'financially sustainable'.

But almost certainly won't, after the consequences of the inevitable surrender to the rail unions which is surely next on the cards. We know they'll surrender, because it's what everyone in authority seems to do when faced with opposition, these days. 

'It almost feels like the Mayor of London is launching a war against commuters,' Commons Leader Mark Spencer said.

I hate to sound like I'm defending the useless Mayor of London on anything, but if it's a war, your government ordered us all over the top into the range of the enemy's artillery, didn't it?