this is bbc news, the headlines: president biden and the first lady have visited uvalde in texas, to meet families who lost children in last week's school shooting. mr biden paid his respects by a memorial site at the robb elementary school. the justice department has announced it will investigate police delays in confronting the gunman. president zelenskyy has visited the frontline in eastern ukraine for the first time since russia invaded. after witnessing the devastation in the city of kharkiv, he greeted frontline troops, and said the army was facing an �*indescribably difficult' situation. tens of thousands of people have marched throutherusalem's muslim quarter, on an annual parade organised by nationalist jewish israelis. some made their way

through the narrow alleys of an arab neighbourhood, waving flags and chanting slogans. the palestinian red cross said over 70 people were injured in clashes. now on bbc news, political thinking with nick robinson. hello, and welcome to political thinking, a conversation with, rather than an interrogation of, someone who shapes our political thinking about what has shaped theirs. my guest this week has threatened to bring the country to a standstill, which has made him a target of those who accuse union militants of being hell—bent on suicidal madness. others, though, say that he is an example for working people of how they can get a decent deal at a time when their

standard of living is constantly being squeezed. whatever your view is, mick lynch, the general secretary of the rmt, now has the backing of his members for potentially a very major confrontation, notjust with the rail companies but with governments of all political persuasion, with the tories in westminster, the snp in scotland, and also with a labour mayor of london as well. lynch has said all he wants from life is a bit of socialism. mick lynch, general secretary of the rmt, welcome to political thinking. do you enjoy weeks like this? i mean, you're in the limelight, the union is in the limelight, you've got the backing of your members. well, it's more exciting than dealing with some paperwork, i suppose. so there's a lot of appearances like this, it's a lot of stress but, if you didn't want to do that, if you didn't want to be involved, you should be doing anotherjob. so it's stimulating, i would say. but stimulation isn't always good. and it certainly makes you think.

and you prepared for quite a long time for this potential confrontation. we have to say potential because it might not end in strikes. absolutely, we've been talking to the employers for a long, long time, since covid started. they brought out their reform package there to get stuff in place for covid, to change the services. and this is a follow on from covid, one way or the other, about the changes that happened on the railways. so we've got to deal with it. and i hope we don't go on strike but we have to have that in our top pocket, is my opinion. and you did say that you could bring the country to a standstill. could you? would you? well, there's been a bit of hyperbole. people have been saying that it is the biggest strike since 1926. it's not. it's a straightforward traditional trade union dispute about pay, jobs and conditions. it's not going to be the general strike. i don't think the country will come to a standstill. it will be an inconvenience. i don't indulge in hype but it's a very serious dispute and a lot of our people are very motivated to get behind it, which has been proven in the ballot results. how inconvenient?

there was talk when you did an interview with the mirror recently of empty shelves and fuel shortages and blackouts. well, they talk about it. i didn't put those words up. they say can you discount this or would you deny it. it could, if it escalates. it could get very serious. the difference between this dispute and some that others are familiar with where you might have a train operator that's got a particular group of people in a conflict or a dispute is that this involves network rail�*s infrastructure. all the signallers, the electrical controllers and all the maintenance staff from the top of scotland down to the bottom of cornwall and all points in between. and if they're involved in action, that will stop the railway to a large extent. but we will see. it is a national dispute and we haven't done that since privatisation on this level. and as you survey the scene, as a trade unionist for many years, do you think we're going to see

many more disputes? because after all, inflation at this sort of level erodes people's incomes, working people who are represented by unions are going to want to fight to make sure they don't see their pay eroded. are we going to see a lot of this? well, i'd like to say i hope so. i hope that's not too controversial. i use that term, working class, because it's gone out of fashion. so many people in my position, including the tuc and the labour party, don't like using it. but there is a class. i mean, it's undeniable in this country, or in any society. there are people at this moment who are suffering, and they are not just suffering because they're unemployed and on benefits and have got difficulties, whether they are disabled or what have you. there is a working poor in this country, and the chief source of their problems is outsourcing, i think. subcontracting vulnerable work and work that is in jeopardy. so there are loads of people in this country who are working full—time, and maybe more than full—time, who can't get a decent set of terms and conditions, can't get a pension, cant get holiday pay, are working on gig economies or forms of it. and i think that's where labour has lost some of its ground, actually. because they're not reaching out to those people. if you're living in a small town that used to be industrial, used to be heavily unionised,

and all the work you can get might be in a care home working for a second or third party subcontractor, you've got a very, very vulnerable life. the rates are really low and the conditions are really low, and they feel insecure. there's this awful cliche, isn't there, whenever there is an election. people of your and my age, it comes out in every newspaper, in the telly and on the radio every time. "we're heading for a winter of discontent." yeah. well, i know are not heading for winter, we're heading for summer. but do you think, with inflation at this level, it's the sort of thing we should prepare for? well, the union movement has to respond, and so does the labour party and the labour movement as it used to be called. we have to respond because we can't allow people to just get poorer, and that's what is actually happening. and i view that — some people might say this is a marxist analysis, it's not, it's a simple analysis — working people are getting poorer because their wages aren't keeping up with inflation. they can't find the labour party any more. some of them can't even find the trade union movement any more. they actually can't find a trade union, which is a big problem. i want to come to your views

about labour, about the trade unions generally in a second, but i mentioned the winter of discontent. it takes you back. that was your early days as a worker, your early days as a trade unionist. back in, what, the late �*70s? 1979 particularly. so, i left school in 1978 and i started in a place where there were six apprentices... eight apprentices. and six of them came from my school. and my school was about two miles away from that factory. and we all did craft apprenticeships and we all were looking forward to a life as craftsmen, as we were then. it was all men apart from the canteen ladies. and that was wiped away later, in the �*80s, by thatcherism. because engineering disappeared. people never believed me that there was engineering in london. it was full of engineering. park royal, near where i lived, was the biggest engineering establishment in western europe. that is in north—west london. yeah. your family were irish catholics. yeah. your dad worked in a factory as you did. yeah, my dad was a proper paddy — as i'm not ashamed of saying. he went down the pub a lot, he was a labourer working

on building sites with the original john murphy, the big contractor. he went in factories because it was easier. he went in the post office because being a shop steward left him a bit vulnerable. when he joined the post office, he came out of his probation and he went on strike for seven weeks. that was tom jackson, if you remember him, with the big handlebar moustache. i certainly do. trade union leader of old. and they lost the dispute. they didn't get what they wanted. so that was my life... and what are your memories of that? did you learn from that, stand up for your rights? even if you lose? did you look at that and think, "oh, they got that horribly wrong"? yeah, i mean, my family is from a republican tradition. they weren't active republicans but it's the milieu, i think the posh people call it. so our life was being roman catholic. it wasn't a lifestyle choice like it is for many people now. "i want to get my kid in that school." being roman catholic was an everyday permanent experience. mass every sunday, holy days of obligation, confession saturday night,

taking communion sunday morning, stations of the cross, the whole bit. where i lived, it was catholic. in paddington kilburn, where we had grown up, i thought everyone was a catholic. all the caribbean people near me were catholic. there were italian people, they were polish people. we didn't have very many english people, i've got to say. and you can't believe that with my accent. when i went to school, we had a boy in my class who was an english catholic and we used to call him the english boy. in central london. and what about trade unionism? so, you were an electrician working in a factory in your teens, your late teens. do you go straight into a union? did you have a sense that, actually, yourfuture might be running a union, or at least being a shop steward on the way to that? well, when i was a kid, trade union general secretaries vic feather and jackjones and all those people, these were big people. these were national figures.

so i never thought i'd be like that. you had to be in a union. when ijoined, a fellow came up to me and said, "you're the apprentice electrician." the other five or six, whatever they were, were mechanical fitters. you had tojoin the union. we made printing presses and we had a printing establishment, we had all the print unions, and when we went to install presses they would be closed shop printing houses. so if i went to fleet street to put some machinery in, your card would be inspected. and i would expect it to be inspected, i wanted it to be inspected, because i didn't want a nonunion person coming into that setup. all of that was made impossible by margaret thatcher. the laws were changed to do away with the closed shop, the obligation to be the member of a union. are you nostalgic for the pre—thatcher days? i'm nostalgic for the power

that we had, and what i more nostalgic for the control and the values that we had. people talk about the winter of discontent and the excesses of the trade union movement as it's styled and as it's caricatured by the press, which was extremely hostile. i'm nostalgic for the balance that we were creating. i think society was becoming rebalanced in the �*70s. thatcher not only crushed the trade unions, she brought in the big bang. she got rid of paternalism in companies. when you worked at a factory, notjust in bournville, in cadburys, but nestles as we used to call it in west london where i used to work, any of the brewers, any of the factories had football fields, social clubs. some of them had housing. my first house i bought was a railway house, provided by british rail and provided by the great western railway. all of that has gone. people now disregard the workforce as something that's under their shoe in some ways. not if you're an office worker, but if you're doing refuse collection, if you're doing care services, if you're doing manufacturing, in many ways you are an inconvenience and we are waiting to automate you out. before we go back to sort of the disputes you're currently in, you paid a very heavy price for being a trade unionist. a phrase that will mean a great deal to trade unionists listening and watching but might not mean

a lot to other people. you were blacklisted. what happened ? so, i came out of engineering because it was closing down and went into construction, which was transferable skills, good thing. and i remained a union activist and there was a lot going on. our union was collaborating, the electricians union as you remember, with murdoch and all that, not to be too boring, but we formed another union which was probably a big mistake, to be loyal to the tuc and loyal our values. and that made me a big target in london, in the construction industry. so the employers, going back to 1919 and the economic league, used to keep a blacklist. so, in other words, a blacklist is a whole list of workers who are, in inverted commas, trouble. and the word is basically going out to all the employers, don't give them a job. don't take them on. so i was put on that and i couldn't get work. it was obvious to me. so you move to job to job as a contract electrician, it's part of the deal. i couldn't get work, and so i said to my wife, "i'm going to have to

change direction here." i know it's because of a blacklist. you can't prove it. but you didn't know. ora sense? everyone knew. it's only the activists that can't get work. so, if you're the shop steward on a big site where you've got some control and you're getting good deals, that you won't get work the next time, you hope that maybe if you take a month out they'll forget in the heat will go off, "i'll get a job." but it never did? and a group of people i know, and they tend to be all the people i know, didn't get work. this was only confirmed in the sense of the blacklist published. it sense of the blacklist published.— sense of the blacklist ublished. . , :: :: ' ., ., published. it was 2009. i got a letter from _ published. it was 2009. i got a letter from the _ published. it was 2009. i got a letter from the information - letter from the information commission office saying you're in a blacklist and there a blacklist support group that was formed. i wasn't active in it, to be fair, there were people who did far more than me. robert mcalpine, of the famous mcalpine fusiliers, that the rs used to sing about, wynn p, q the rs used to sing about, wynn p, 0 group, had to cough up a lot of money. did you get some

money? i got a lot of money, £35,000 compensation, the £35, 000 compensation, the checkers £35,000 compensation, the checkers on the wall in my office. , , ., ., ., office. did you treat to something _ office. did you treat to something nice? - office. did you treat to something nice? i - office. did you treat to something nice? i did| office. did you treat to _ something nice? i did something on my house. — something nice? i did something on my house, not _ something nice? i did something on my house, not very _ something nice? i did something on my house, not very much. - something nice? i did something on my house, not very much. it. on my house, not very much. it didn't compensate for the amount of wages that were lost. many people got very low sums compared to what i got. you would know _ compared to what i got. you would know that _ compared to what i got. you would know that your - compared to what i got. you would know that your union in particular, and it's going to happen more and more when you are drawn into a dispute, is portrayed as militant, as extreme. portrayed as militant, as extreme-— portrayed as militant, asl extreme._ what portrayed as militant, as - extreme._ what you extreme. assertive. what you described _ extreme. assertive. what you described as _ extreme. assertive. what you described as instead. - extreme. assertive. what you described as instead. i'm - extreme. assertive. what you. described as instead. i'm going to put it to you that there is a little secret going on here that people might have cottoned on to listening to your interview. when we've spoken to trade unionists and people in the labour party, they say, that lynch, is nothing as left—wing as the people he has to deal with on his own executive." i to deal with on his own executive. "— to deal with on his own executive." . , executive." i am left-wing but i'm not affiliated, _ executive.�* i am left-wing but i'm not affiliated, i— executive." i am left-wing but i'm not affiliated, i don't - i'm not affiliated, i don't take orders from particular groups, i'm not in the labour

party, iam groups, i'm not in the labour party, i am a socialist and i have a set of principles based on traditional labour values. you don't take orders because there are factions.— there are factions. some of them take _ there are factions. some of them take orders _ there are factions. some of them take orders from - there are factions. some of. them take orders from bodies outside my union, i'm not interested in that and i told them very directly. pare interested in that and i told them very directly.- them very directly. are you embarrassed _ them very directly. are you embarrassed by _ them very directly. are you embarrassed by some - them very directly. are you embarrassed by some of. them very directly. are you | embarrassed by some of the things? are you thatis that is up to them. when they're at the table with me, they're at the table with me, they deal with it as trade unionists. some of them have things quoted from years ago as well and people move on from some of the previous beliefs. have they moved on from the supporting vladimir putin, because you know the daily mail has made a great deal in recent days of the fact eddie dempsey, one of your senior assistants, general secretary, visited the dom bess region and posed for a picture with the pro—russian separatist commander. i picture with the pro-russian separatist commander. i think that was six — separatist commander. i think that was six or _ separatist commander. i think that was six or seven - separatist commander. i think that was six or seven years i that was six or seven years ago. i was with eddie dempsey and a little while ago, he does not support putin or the russian invasion and aggression

against ukraine. we support ukraine's self—determination, we support ukrainian trade unions and ukrainian people. but dempsey signed a stop the war coalition statement only a week ago. war coalition statement only a week age-— week ago. stop the war is sli . htl week ago. stop the war is slightly different - week ago. stop the war is slightly different in - week ago. stop the war is slightly different in my . slightly different in my opinion. slightly different in my opinion-— slightly different in my oinion. �* . ., , opinion. but it criticises nato's disdain - opinion. but it criticises nato's disdain for - opinion. but it criticises i nato's disdain for russian concerns. nato's disdain for russian concerne— nato's disdain for russian concerns. there is a slight disdain, — concerns. there is a slight disdain, there _ concerns. there is a slight disdain, there are - concerns. there is a slight disdain, there are two - concerns. there is a slight i disdain, there are two sides concerns. there is a slight - disdain, there are two sides in the war on some of the stuff that has happened in ukraine hasn't been very pleasant. under a different regime than zelinsky there was the burning down of the trade union hall and many people killed, some people put in prison because of their beliefs. that does not counterbalance anything putin has done and putin's repression is far more severe than anyone opposing at the minute. we are totally opposed to their invasion force to- totally opposed to their invasion force to with the president _ invasion force to with the president of _ invasion force to with the president of the - invasion force to with the president of the union i invasion force to with the i president of the union failed ukraine a failed state held to ransom by neo—nazis. ukraine a failed state held to ransom by neo-nazis.- ukraine a failed state held to ransom by neo-nazis. there are a lot of neo-nazis _ ransom by neo-nazis. there are a lot of neo-nazis in _ ransom by neo-nazis. there are a lot of neo-nazis in the - a lot of neo—nazis in the ukraine, the azov battalion is based on neo—nazis and racism. that can't be avoided but in my

union, i speakfor the union officially as general secretary, eddie does as well when i don't do it, he supports the union's position which is to oppose putin's aggression and invasion of the ukraine. let's talk about the disputes, not in huge detail, for a news interview this, but what you say to people who say look at the timeline of this, however good the argument you make, you just can't risk adding to the woes of ordinary working people who depend on the trade, depend on the tube for example, to get about and earn their living? i recognise that completely. i live in my community. people use the train, my family uses the train, my son works on the railway. i recognise all that inconvenience and i don't want it to happen. i know that can sound a bit trite and i'm bound to say it, but i do believe that. , , ., ., that. do they shout at you over these? their — that. do they shout at you over these? they have _ that. do they shout at you over these? they have a _ that. do they shout at you over these? they have a go - that. do they shout at you over these? they have a go at - that. do they shout at you over these? they have a go at me, | these? they have a go at me, --eole these? they have a go at me, peeple stare _ these? they have a go at me, people stare at _ these? they have a go at me, people stare at me _ these? they have a go at me, people stare at me and - these? they have a go at me, people stare at me and thinkl people stare at me and think isn't that the bloke that is bringing the country to its

knees as the papacy. i don't want to bring the country to its knees, i don't want our members to be on strike and lose money, i want them to have a contented worklife balance and get with living their lives, as happily and contentedly as they can. but the timing is because the employers and the government have a plan to slash thousands of jobs. have a plan to slash thousands ofjobs. they don't want to give us a pay rise. some of our members are into the third year of that. and inflation is rampant as we all know. i don't want to bang up on about that but we all know that. but the conditions we enjoy and negotiated are under threat. and yet you see people say they are not badly paid, a lot of your people. aha, are not badly paid, a lot of your people-— your people. a lot of the reasons _ your people. a lot of the reasons for _ your people. a lot of the reasons for that - your people. a lot of the reasons for that is - your people. a lot of the i reasons for that is because everyone else is lost. we have never lost our ability to being able to bargain, we have not lost our final salary pension scheme or our terms and conditions, so relative to where we were, and we have done well in some negotiations on tube, railand bus, we have

maintained our position. so, relatively, the rest of the working class has been relegated to league one, a bit where man utd are heading at the moment.— the moment. enough of that, thank you! — the moment. enough of that, thank you! that _ the moment. enough of that, thank you! that is _ the moment. enough of that, thank you! that is the - thank you! that is the relativities. _ thank you! that is the relativities. if- thank you! that is the relativities. if you - thank you! that is the | relativities. if you look thank you! that is the . relativities. if you look at the relativities, a tube driver used to be on the same weight as a bus driver. in fact, bus driver traditionally before the 60s was often on more money than a tube driver. a tube driver because of rmt membership and aslef membership of the unions that are prepared to campaign and go to the wall on these issues, is now on a much higher wage. but relatively, against inflation, their wages may not be much difference. but bus drivers have been subcontracted and relegated right down the league table of wages foster this relegated right down the league table of wages foste- table of wages foster this is very interesting, _ table of wages foster this is very interesting, mick - table of wages foster this is l very interesting, mick lynch, because i think far from what you are saying, far from what you are saying, far from what you are saying, far from what you are apologising, strikes, the disruption, this is something you are proud of, that you can say to your members you have got higher wages, betterterms members you have got higher wages, better terms and conditions, a better pension than a lot of other people

precisely because i come on your behalf, and willing to pick a fight. your behalf, and willing to pick a fight-— your behalf, and willing to pick a fight. your behalf, and willing to ickafiaht. ., . ., pick a fight. you can choose to be in which — pick a fight. you can choose to be in which union _ pick a fight. you can choose to be in which union you - pick a fight. you can choose to be in which union you want, i be in which union you want, even on the railway, in life, will not be in the union as a worker. if i said to you and you want to be in this limp, passive union that has submitted to the trends of modern economics and modern working life, or do you want to be in this assertive, powerful, high profile union, which one are you going to choose? you're not going to choose the limp one, are you, the one on its way out and has not got any profile in this country.- profile in this country. such as? m _ profile in this country. such as? i'm not _ profile in this country. such as? i'm not going _ profile in this country. such as? i'm not going to - profile in this country. such as? i'm not going to name | profile in this country. such - as? i'm not going to name one. when you've — as? i'm not going to name one. when you've got _ as? i'm not going to name one. when you've got one _ as? i'm not going to name one. when you've got one in - as? i'm not going to name one. when you've got one in mind. l as? i'm not going to name one. when you've got one in mind. i | when you've got one in mind. i wouldn't dare say that. nor will you choose to go with a powerful and assertive movement, nothing that is where the union movement has to go, and i told the tuc, frances o'grady and whoever is coming in her place you have to get out of the offices, onto the streets come into the working class towns around this country and build it up again as if we were victorians.— were victorians. what is interesting _ were victorians. what is interesting now - were victorians. what is interesting now and - were victorians. what is | interesting now and right were victorians. what is . interesting now and right at the beginning of this interview you criticise the tuc, you have

basically criticised the labor party, you are not affiliated as a union to the labor party. if it comes to strikes this year, will they back you? i don't know, i don't think the labor party will back us. i don't think keir starmer or wes streeting and the new breed will go on the telly and save these workers deserve a pay rise and it should be like this. they will say warm words, a words, such as there has to be a settlement, we encourage both parties to get around the table. what might —— both parties to get around the table. what might --- both parties to get around the table. what might -- what about the deputy. _ table. what might -- what about the deputy. angela _ table. what might -- what about the deputy, angela rayner? - table. what might -- what about the deputy, angela rayner? it. the deputy, angela rayner? it is up to angela, i like angela. we don't give any politician money, we give campaigns money, we give people that identify with what we identify with support, physical, materialand support, physical, material and financial support. support, physical, materialand financial support. 50 support, physical, material and financial support.— financial support. so is angela ra ner financial support. so is angela rayner still — financial support. so is angela rayner still an _ financial support. so is angela rayner still an ally _ financial support. so is angela rayner still an ally of - financial support. so is angela rayner still an ally of the - rayner still an ally of the rmt? ,, , ., , ' rmt? she is. some of the stuff she believes _ rmt? she is. some of the stuff she believes in _ rmt? she is. some of the stuff she believes in personally - rmt? she is. some of the stuff she believes in personally is . she believes in personally is the stuff that i believe in, she has a very similar background to me. you know, it is that kind of background are

coming from a council estate and wanting to lift the whole council estate. that is why i don't like that blairite language about equality of opportunity, i will pick individuals out and select them to do well, but they can leave that state. why can't you stay on the estate and lift the whole estate were left all of the people on that estate together, not pick them out, which is the grammar school idea, and the academy idea, and all that kind of baloney. ii'idta�*e all that kind of baloney. have ou all that kind of baloney. have you stayed — all that kind of baloney. have you stayed on _ all that kind of baloney. have you stayed on the _ all that kind of baloney. have you stayed on the estate? . all that kind of baloney. have you stayed on the estate? i l you stayed on the estate? i haven't, because my mother died in our council flat. haven't, because my mother died in our councilflat. my haven't, because my mother died in our council flat. my mother did, i boughta house in our council flat. my mother did, i bought a house because i have always owned a good, decent wage, along with my wife, and we have a home that we own ourselves.— we own ourselves. what about the tories. _ we own ourselves. what about the tories, they _ we own ourselves. what about the tories, they are _ we own ourselves. what about the tories, they are saying - we own ourselves. what about the tories, they are saying if. the tories, they are saying if it comes to this, that they have a manifesto promise of what they call "minimum service levels", a sort of guarantee that the most important things will happen on the rail, freight for example, can they make that happen, or can you stop them? we make that happen, or can you stop them?—

make that happen, or can you stop them? we don't want that to happen- _ stop them? we don't want that to happen- if— stop them? we don't want that to happen. if they _ stop them? we don't want that to happen. if they bring - stop them? we don't want that to happen. if they bring in - to happen. if they bring in legislation to change what you can do, and there are countries that have this, they will take away the right to strike. there is no point in having a strike if it has no effect. people may not like that but that is just the simple chemistry of how a dispute works. in industries where you go on strike and it is just where you go on strike and it isjust a where you go on strike and it is just a protest can you stand outside the building for an hour or two and have an extra long lunch break and you're not going to get anything, i'm afraid, which is why all unions and sector unions look after the lower paid and the more vulnerable. that's what they want. they want to emasculate us, and if they do that, that is going at the fundamentals of living in a free society. the chartist, the suffragists and all of the reformers fought for our rights to get to this position where we can, if our members want it, take this action. it hurts us. it is difficult to be on strike in a community. it is difficult to be a trade union leader organising strikes, but it does bring results.— bring results. there is a better view, _ bring results. there is a better view, i _ bring results. there is a better view, i put - bring results. there is a better view, i put it - bring results. there is a better view, i put it to l

bring results. there is a . better view, i put it to you, that wants to go back to some of the values that you loved and admired that your parents grew up with, the solidarity, the community. is that something that you wish could come back? i something that you wish could come back?— come back? i don't have any problem _ come back? i don't have any problem in _ come back? i don't have any problem in that. _ come back? i don't have any problem in that. we - come back? i don't have any problem in that. we have i come back? i don't have any problem in that. we have to | problem in that. we have to rebuild it in a modern way because life is different, people don't socialise that way, you know, the caricature of the miners, the working men's club. they are struggling, people communicate in a different way, they don't all want to go to ballroom branch meetings but they don't always want to take part in residents associations, or running the support of the church rebuilding fund or whatever. all these things are part of it and some people don't even want to go to the pub anymore. i can't understand that at all, neck, you probably might agree with me. we that at all, neck, you probably might agree with me.- that at all, neck, you probably might agree with me. we will be talkin: might agree with me. we will be talking about — might agree with me. we will be talking about the _ might agree with me. we will be talking about the fact _ might agree with me. we will be talking about the fact you - might agree with me. we will be talking about the fact you have l talking about the fact you have to have ipa rather than better soon. ~ . y ., ~ to have ipa rather than better soon. ~ . ~ , soon. which you might think is about the _ soon. which you might think is about the idea _ soon. which you might think is about the idea of _ soon. which you might think is about the idea of the - soon. which you might think is about the idea of the crack, i about the idea of the crack, that involves more than just telling jokes, that involves more than just tellingjokes, it that involves more than just telling jokes, it is about jokes in community and society —— the craic. people are stuck

in their bedrooms, not helped by covm, but in their bedrooms, not helped by covid, but that thing of being obsessed by your phone and your laptop, living your life through a website. we've got to turn that round, surely everyone wants that? just get back doing some sport or camping or whatever you need to do. i was in the carbs, i loved it. i do. i was in the carbs, i loved it. . , ., do. i was in the carbs, i loved it. . ., do. i was in the carbs, i loved it. i asked you how it was to be in the — it. i asked you how it was to be in the public _ it. i asked you how it was to be in the public eye - it. i asked you how it was to be in the public eye now. i it. i asked you how it was to | be in the public eye now. do you want people to know the name, mick lynch? do you like the idea that in the way that bob kray was a famous trade unionist, arthur scargill was, you mention some of the names from the 70s who i remember growing up, jackjones, vic feather. do you want to be a big public figure in that way? i have some problems with that, personally. i don't seek it. but everyone has an ego. if i wasn't known to anyone, i wouldn't be doing myjob, and if you are an anonymous trade union leader, i think there is something wrong with the campaigning that your union is doing. so i would love it if

there were 30 well known trade union leaders getting interviews, getting air space, getting their message across, and that's what i want. it is not for me particularly, i know it sounds a bit over humble, but i know i have an ego and i enjoy some of it, i enjoy these conversations, but ultimately it is so that the union movement get a profile in society. that's why we need high—profile campaigns and high—profile campaigns and high—profile people. jack high-profile people. jack l nch, high-profile people. jack lynch, general— high—profile people. jack lynch, general secretary of the rmt, thank you so much for talking to me on political thinking. so is the general secretary of the rmt a man simply doing hisjob, fighting for his members�*s rates, making sure they get a better deal than those who are not represented by a strong trade union? or is he a selfish militant, a man putting his own interest, his members interests, before those of the wider community? that is a debate where you have to come up debate where you have to come up with the answer. thanks for joining me on political thinking.

hello. there are some heavy showers in the forecast as we start the new week and low pressure taking up residence across the uk for the next couple of days, driving those heavy downpours. but in between the showers, there will be some spells of sunshine. northern ireland and scotland starting the day with a lot of cloud, some patchy rain. further south, some brighter glimpses, but by the afternoon, essentially, we are all in the same boat — sunny spells, heavy showers. some of the showers will contain some flashes of lightning, some rumbles of thunder, and some will be quite slow—moving given that the winds will be very light. temperatures, north to south, 11—17 degrees, a little below par for the time of year. some showers will continue during monday night, and this band of cloud and rain will sink its way southwards into the far west of scotland, and, eventually, northern ireland as we go through tuesday. tuesday getting off to quite a chilly start for many.

so, tuesday bringing some showers or longer spells of rain, but the showers through the week should become fewer and further between. not completely dry for the long weekend, but there should be a decent amount of fine weather.

welcome to bbc news — i'm david eades. our top stories. president biden visits texas to meet grieving families after last week's school shooting. thejustice department says it will investigate police delays in confronting the gunman. a first visit to the front line since russia invaded — president zelensky visits and decorates troops in eastern ukraine as intense fighting continues in the region. translation: i'm greatly honoured to be here. i i want to thank each one of you for your great service, for risking your life for our sake, for the sake of our country. heightened tensions injerusalem — with thousands of israeli jewish nationalists marching through the old city's muslim quarter.

and the french government is to hold an emergency meeting