Tonight, a Merseyside CLP (constituency Labour party) was scheduled to debate a motion in support of rail workers and against the proposed introduction of ‘DOO’ (driver-only operation) on Merseyrail and Northern Rail services on Merseyside (and Southern etc elsewhere).
John Tilley, an RMT union official was at the meeting and gave an impassioned and compelling talk about the importance of guards to passenger safety – Merseyrail employees have been guaranteed other work, but the issue is not simply their job security but the safety of the people using the services – and gave many recent examples where train guards have been crucial to ensuring passenger safety in the region following breakdowns, accidents etc.
When the time came to discuss the motion, the CLP Chair announced – it had not been flagged in any way before the meeting – that the motion would not be discussed or voted on, because ‘Region’ (Labour’s north-west…
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