Bernie Sanders arrives in London to back RMT strikes
“What is going on today in the UK is the same that is going on in the United States of America, the same bloody thing.”
United States senator Bernie Sanders has arrived in the UK to back striking workers in their fight for better pay and conditions, calling for ‘working people all over the globe to stand together’.
The veteran democratic socialist joined striking workers at the Save London’s Public Transport Rally in the capital on Wednesday night. The rally had been organised by a number of trade unions, including the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), in central London.
Other speakers at yesterday’s event included Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell, RMT leader Mick Lynch and Miatta Fahnbulleh of the New Economics Foundation.
Sanders told the audience: “What is going on today in the UK is the same that is going on in the United States of America, the same bloody thing.
“The people on the top are phenomenally rich and they are becoming richer. You are seeing a middle class continue to shrink, and millions are living in abject poverty.
“In the year 2022, we cannot allow that to happen.
“We have got to get our priorities right and get a government that works for all and not just a few.
“There is a growing concentration of ownership, large multinational corporations have so much control of the markets.
“A small number of billionaires have enormous power… our challenge is to bring people together and stand against the demi Gods who want to divide us up by the colour of our skin, or where we were born, or what our sexual orientation is.
“It is not radical… Our job is to take on these oligarchs and welcome a world of justice. Every worker should be entitled to a decent standard of living. It is not a radical idea to entitle everybody to decent, affordable housing.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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