Rail union leader: I used to wake up early so I could spend more time hating Thatcher
A UNION firebrand behind the Southern Rail strike misery has spoken of his determination to ‘ get rid’ of Theresa May’s Government.
Tosh McDonald also said he used to wake an hour early so he’d have more time to hate Margaret Thatcher.
In a revealing interview, the heavily tattooed Aslef president admitted he belonged to a biker gang before he entered union politics. And the 56-yearold, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, claimed his union members were striking to try and improve services on the Southern network.
Action by Aslef drivers and conductors from the RMT union have repeatedly brought trains to a standstill since last spring, causing misery for travellers across the South East.
Mr McDonald’s enmity for the Tory government of the 1980s came out as part of a wide-ranging interview.
The unionist, who started working on the railways in 1979 and is still a working train driver, told The Sunday Times: ‘I hated dealing with the Thatcher government. I hated Thatcher so much that I used to set my alarm an hour earlier, just so I could hate her for an extra hour!
‘We get a decent wage now, but there’s more stress because the Government’s ripping the heart out of the industry. They look at us like Thatcher looked at the miners – they want to break the rail unions.’
He said he was a ‘ proud socialist’ and would like to ‘get rid of’ Mrs May’s Government, but added: ‘That is in no way connected with Aslef. My job is to look after the members, no matter who’s in power. Yes, I called Jeremy Corbyn the messiah, but it was just a bit of humour misconstrued by so- called intelligent people.’
He also admitted that members of the public con- front him about the strikes, and claimed to ‘sympathise’ with commuters.
But he said the ‘atrocious’ service on Southern was nothing to do with industrial action. ‘I get recognised now, and people do complain about the strikes. Of course, I sympathise with the people who have to put up with an atrocious service on Southern, but it’s atrocious every day,’ he said. ‘That’s nothing to do with the strikes.
‘We’re going on strike so they don’t have to endure that atrocious service. Southern could be fantastic... if it was run properly.’
Mr McDonald said he was a ‘gobby lad’ whose mum left when he was three. Aged 11, he found his 38- year- old father, who was a smoker and drinker, dead on the sofa .
‘As a kid you have no idea how to deal with something like that,’ he said. ‘I started getting into trouble and left school with no qualifications. I couldn’t even read or write.
He got his politics from his grandfather, an ex-miner who had been involved in the 1926 general strike.
Mr McDonald said he had a ‘ bit of a dalliance’ with a motorcycle gang called the Outlaws but didn’t like the lifestyle. ‘I didn’t want to fight society, I wanted to change it,’ he added. The union chief, who lives in Doncaster with his second wife, Nikki, also spoke about the haircare routine he uses on his distinctive long tresses.
‘I always get asked about my hair – even at union meetings,’ he said. ‘I use ordinary shampoo and conditioner.’
Last month it emerged that Mr Corbyn asked supporters at a party to cheer Mr McDonald. The union lobbied for his election as Labour leader and gave more than £100,000 to the party in 2015. Aslef’s next walkout on Southern takes place over three days next week.
‘Ripping the heart out’