‘I totally, totally, 100 percent back ’em!’
A taxi driver driver didn’t give GB News quite the soundbite they were after when he was asked about this week’s rail strikes, with the interview being cut abruptly short as a result.
Around 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 13 train operators have gone on strike today after last-ditch talks on Monday failed to resolve the bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Only around 20 percent of rail services will run today, with workers set to walk out on Thursday and Saturday as well.
The strikes will cause a huge level of disruption for millions across the country, and GB News decided to speak to a taxi driver in Norwich about the industrial action.
The driver was asked by the interviewer about the “squeeze” the strikes would be putting on his trade, and seemed to be expecting an angry reaction.
But the man responded: “First and foremost, I want to say that the men and women of the trade unions, I totally, totally, 100 percent back them.”
In an answer that GB News surely weren’t expecting or hoping for, the taxi driver said the rail workers have the “right to stand up to their working rights”, adding that it was “unfortunate we don’t have more unions that are strong enough to stand up for that.”
He explained he was an ex-coal miner and “believed in the unions,” finishing by saying that if the taxi trade has to take the burden then “we’re prepared to do that.”
Clearly, this is not the answer the right-wing GB News would have been hoping to provide its viewers with, and this was made abundantly clear when the interviewer decided to ask no further questions, ending the interview there and then.
. @GBNEWS were setting up this taxi driver to slag off the rail unions about this week’s strikes. Watch what happens next. Not surprised the questions stopped there! pic.twitter.com/dqPHa9z9ps
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) June 20, 2022
It’s not the only time today that news channel viewers have suspected presenters of trying to catch out people with questions about the strikes.
People have also been praising RMT boss Mick Lynch for his responses to Kay Burley’s questions on Sky News on Tuesday morning.
Related links:
- Lib Dems delete tweet about RMT strikes after wildly misreading the room
- Rail strikes: Everything you need to know to survive the biggest walk out in 30 years
- Half of Glastonbury trains cancelled because of rail strikes
