Striking rail staff should want to stand in solidarity with fellow Ukrainian workers rather than “cynically target” the Eurovision Song Contest, which the UK is hosting on behalf of the war-torn nation, the transport secretary has said.
Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Mark Harper argued the stricken country’s train network has been the specific focus of attacks by invading Russian forces on the orders of Vladimir Putin.
But the cabinet minister’s comments have been derided as “bizarre” by a union leader at the centre of the rail dispute, who highlighted his group’s support for Ukraine and argued seeking a pay rise had nothing to do with the conflict.
Mr Harper was speaking after it was announced members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at 14 train operators would walkout on the day of the Eurovision final being staged in Liverpool on 13 May.
It comes after the union’s executive rejected the latest offer aimed at resolving a long-running pay row.
The train driver’s union Aslef is also to hold strikes on the eve of the Eurovision competition on 12 May and 31 May, as well as on 3 June, the day of the FA Cup Final.
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4:13
From the frontline to Eurovision
Mr Harper told Ridge: “I think it’s very damaging that the rail unions are calling a strike specifically targeting the Eurovision Song Contest.
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“I’ve met with the head of Ukrainian Railways. The Ukrainian railways have been specifically targeted by Vladimir Putin. Rail workers are being killed in their hundreds.
“And I would have thought, frankly, rail workers would have wanted to stand in solidarity with them rather than targeting the Eurovision Song Contest, which, if you remember, it’s not our song contest.
“We are hosting it, but we’re hosting it for Ukraine and I think cynically targeting events that hard-working, working men and women across the country are spending their money on to try and attend and targeting those I think is very cynical.”
Image: Aslef boss Mick Whelan says Mr Harper’s remarks are ‘ridiculous’
But hitting back, Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “I take my hat off to Mr Harper, because of all the accusations I have ever heard, and I have heard a good few in my time, this really is the most ridiculous.
“He claims we are not standing in solidarity with Ukraine when he knows – or should know – that we have stood in solidarity with the people of that country much longer than he has.”
He added: “I have been to Ukraine – I was there as the Russian tanks invaded – and Aslef’s assistant general secretary, Simon Weller, has been there to talk to rail workers when the Russian bombs were falling. Mr Harper hasn’t. And we are members of the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign. Mr Harper isn’t.
“So I am not going to take any lessons in solidarity from a Tory cabinet minister who doesn’t understand what he is talking about.
“Standing shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine has nothing to do with the Eurovision Song Contest, anyway, bless him.
“And we are not even on strike on the day of the contest, anyway.”
Mr Whelan went on: “The truth is that Mr Harper should tell the train companies to come back to the negotiating table and make train drivers who have not had a pay increase since 2019 a sensible offer so they can buy, this year, what they could buy four years ago. Then there would be no more strikes.
“The only people who are responsible for the ongoing strikes in this country – in all the different sectors of the British economy – are the government and the employers.
“And seeking a pay increase has nothing whatsoever to do with Ukraine.”
Rory McIlroy has completed a career Grand Slam in golf with his win at the US Masters tournament.
The Masters was the last major tournament left for McIlroy to complete the modern golf Grand Slam – a feat only five others have managed before him.
McIlroy, who was making his 11th attempt at completing the Grand Slam, faced off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to decide the Masters champion, after they finished tied on 11 under at the end of regulation on Sunday.
Image: McIlroy reacts as he wins. Pic: AP
Image: McIlroy reacts after winning against Justin Rose at the Masters. Pic: AP
“It’s my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said just before slipping on the Green Jacket during the presentation ceremony.
“I’m just absolutely honoured and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”
McIlroy had missed his six-foot putt for par, a bogey which dropped him back to 11 under, where he joined Rose – leading to a dramatic play-off between the two.
Only five other golfers have been able to complete a career Grand Slam, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
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Image: Pic: AP
McIlroy is a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, claiming the prize in 2012 and 2014.
The 35-year-old also won his first major title, the US Open, in 2011, and won The Open Championship in 2014.
How did McIlroy get to the victory?
McIlroy recovered from losing his overnight two-shot advantage with an opening-hole double bogey to initially take control at Augusta National, only to blow a four-shot lead over his closing six holes.
The world No 2 bogeyed the last to close a one-over 73 and slip back to 11 under alongside Rose, who overturned a seven-stroke deficit and posted a stunning final-round 66 to force a play-off.
The players returned to the 18th for the play-off, where McIlroy made amends for his 72nd-hole blunder by firing a stunning approach to within three feet of the pin and making the birdie putt required for a life-changing win.
Last-minute efforts to keep British Steel operating are to be carried out today, as the plant races to secure a supply of raw materials.
The Department for Business and Trade said officials are working to secure supplies of materials, including coking coal, to keep British Steel operational, as well as to ensure all staff will be paid.
It added that setting up new supply chains was “crucial” as a fall in blast furnace temperature could risk “irreparable damage to the site, with the steel setting and scarring the machinery”.
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Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement that “when I said steelmaking has a future in the UK, I meant it”.
“Steel is vital for our national security and our ambitious plans for the housing, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors in the UK,” he added.
“We will set out a long-term plan to co-invest with the private sector to ensure steel in the UK has a bright and sustainable future.”
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Image: Unions said Jingye decided to cancel orders of key materials for the steelworks
Earlier this month, unions said the steelwork’s owner, Chinese company Jingye, decided to cancel future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
It meant the Scunthorpe plant had been on course to close down by May, bit it sparked urgent calls for government intervention.
Emergency legislation was passed on Saturday bringing the steelworks into effective government control, and officials were on site as soon as the new legislation came into force.
However, the business secretary has warned that does not mean the plant is guaranteed to survive.
Appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Reynolds also said he would not bring a Chinese company into the “sensitive” steel sector again.
“I don’t know… the Boris Johnson government when they did this, what exactly the situation was,” he added. “But I think it’s a sensitive area.”
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‘I wouldn’t bring a Chinese company into our steel sector’
Jingye stepped in with a deal to buy British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant out of insolvency in 2020, when Mr Johnson was prime minister.
The minister added that while The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill stops short of the full nationalisation of British Steel, “to be frank, as I said to parliament yesterday, it is perhaps at this stage the likely option”.
The Conservatives accused the government of acting “too late” and implementing a “botched nationalisation” after ignoring warnings about the risk to the steelworks.