Everyone could be forgiven for thinking that Grant Shaps was quite pleased that the rail strikes were continuing. Of course, the transport secretary hadn’t been so lively in a long time. Probably the last time he was that chipper, he was like his alter ego, Michael Green, with the quick-money scheme he was promoting. Which never made anyone money. Imagine. You will be more lucky with Ponzi’s scheme.
It was Shaps in his funniest way. Super-excitement flowed from every pore. Somewhere in his head he calculated that the strikes were good for the government. What society really wants is another problem that divides the nation. Fight against trade unions.
Somehow he convinces himself that after a three-day break, people will say, “You know what? Strikes have nothing to do with the Tories. However, they have only been in government for 12 years. I’m telling you who I’m blaming. I blame the opposition. “
These are deceptive things. Again, he has always been a dreamer. It is hard to believe that someone with their checkered career files can enter the office. But Boris Johnson likes to hire people in his own image. Ministers with their own disregard for the truth.
Shaps was in a hurry to flee from the beginning of his statement in the Municipality. He felt just like the son of Jesus. Inflated. You are ready to fight any member of the Labor Party. Encouraged to throw some red meat at the few back Tory benchers who had reached the hall. It is assumed that others have decided to work from home. Again, so few of them show up regularly anyway, it will be a normal work week for them.
First, Shapps broke up in the unions. Allied Barons, he smiled, as if shouting the name of a villain panto. We could almost go back to the 70’s. Except this time, there would be no winter of discontent. More of a summer of discontent, though Grant seemed anything but dissatisfied. He was excited about himself. Excited by the chaos that was caused. Excited to be the center of attention.
“We are doing our best,” he continued. We do our best to be misleading; to tell half truths; to accuse the railway union of the very practices for which it is guilty. He was not the employer. This was Network Rail and the companies that operate the trains. So it was right that he did not take part in all the negotiations. It seems to have crossed his mind that the government actually owns most of these companies and they cannot reach a payment agreement without his ruling.
But not. Shaps is not ashamed of how little effort he has put in to help resolve the dispute. It was right that he had done almost nothing. In fact, the less he did, the more he proved how cooperative he was. No one wanted those blows less than him, he lied.
Everyone wanted a decent salary increase, he continued. But the dispute was not about money, he insisted. Which will be news to many of those on strike. It was about conditions. By the way, revenues fell by 20% after the pandemic, so attackers could play for money. Not that it was about money.
The shadow transport secretary, Louise Hay, answered best. A channel of righteous anger. She really didn’t want the strikes to continue, but she respected the right of unions to strike. This was called a democratic process. And she knew where most of the blame was. With Shaps himself. The minister who had disappeared in action. The man who had done the most to ensure that the strikes would continue with their indifferent approach to industrial action.
How come he barely moved a finger? Give employers a mandate to negotiate only at the last minute. This was a severe neglect of debt. Failure of leadership. The conversations were nothing but a sham. Set up for failure. Shaps held out his hands in a demonstration of false innocence.
Hey, press. How come he now offered to use the same P&O book to attract cheaper agency employees that he condemned just a few months ago? The Labor government in Wales had reached an agreement with the unions and there would be no strikes. Why couldn’t he do the same? Shaps was quick to praise the railroad workers for continuing to walk during the pandemic, and now he addressed them. What had happened to the economy of the high-wage convict? It obviously depended on who won the high profits.
Shaps was motionless. Nothing would ruin his day. Not everything was falling into place now. So he kept bouncing up and down enthusiastically. The blows were evil. Attack on the country. The unions had done nothing but lie. He had offered to pay. Just a lot less than inflation. And it was not his fault if the government had no plans to deal with it. And weren’t the railway workers already paid too much? Nurses receive much less – though no less than cleaners and catering staff – so unions just have to shut up. Apparently, the underpayment of other workers was an incentive.
“I love the railroads,” Shaps concluded. He just has a fun way to show it.
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