WEST Dorset’s MP has hit back after being branded ‘Chris Loder-rubbish’ when a clip of him questioning union bosses went viral.
Chris Loder, a Conservative and former rail worker, was quizzing chiefs of leading unions as part of his role on the parliamentary Transport Select Committee.
The leaders were appearing to discuss current industrial action being taken in a range of industries including nurses, paramedics and rail workers.
During Mr Loder’s questions, he asked Mick Whelan – general secretary of the Aslef union – to confirm several of his duties, including being a member of Labour’s executive committee and as chair of the Labour Unions group.
After Mr Whelan confirmed the positions, the West Dorset MP asked if the unions received any ‘direction from the Labour Party in these discussions and negotiations’.
The question was met with laughter from the union bosses present, with Mr Whelan responding: “Excuse me for laughing.
“Unfortunately, no, I’ve had no discussions with anybody.
“We have briefed people in the shadow cabinet with our position as a trade union, but there has been no direct discussion or policy in relation to this dispute coming from the leadership of the Labour Party.
“And I think it’s a matter of public record, my view on MPs and others attending picket lines.”
Last summer, Mr Whelan criticised Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer over MPs attending picket lines, prompting the reaction from the union leaders at the implication they were taking guidance from the party.
Sir Kier ‘banned’ MPs from attending picket lines, with Mr Whelan branding the move a ‘blow to Labour’s credibility’.
Clips of the exchange soon went viral online and in some parts of the media, with LBC radio host James O’Brien calling the MP a ‘complete flump’ and giving him the nickname, Chris Loder-rubbish.
Mr O’Brien said: “The idea they’re undertaking industrial action to cause political harm to the Tories instead of to improve the terms and conditions of their members is obviously absurd but probably what Chris Loder genuinely believes.
“He can’t quite get his head around the idea of an organisation that is dedicated to improving the terms and conditions of ordinary working people, when he’s part of a political movement that wants to diminish the terms and conditions of ordinary working people, so their employers and shareholders can take even more money home at the end of every month.”
He added: “The poor little fella, he was like a kid bringing apple for teacher … It’s a complete waste of select committee time … They all start laughing at him for being a complete flump. And he’s an MP.”
Labelling the West Dorset MP ‘Chris Loder-rubbish’, the host went on: “They (the Conservative government) are so bent by prejudice and bigotry, so completely convinced unions are agents of evil because they never really got beyond the Margaret Thatcher fetishisation … ‘There’s a union here, we must oppose and resist because unions bad’. That’s it.”
Tory MP Chris Loder asks ASLEF boss Mick Whelan if Labour advise him in negotiations with the government at the Transport Select Committee.
He, Mick Lynch and TSSA chief Frank Ward laugh in his face. pic.twitter.com/DtEjm0P0VU
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) January 11, 2023
Now, Mr Loder has responded, lashing out at radio host Mr O’Brien, accusing him of not doing ‘his research’ and not asking the MP to comment.
“At the select committee, it was clear from the General Secretary of the train drivers’ union ASLEF, that he is a member of the Labour Party’s ruling executive body,” Mr Loder told the New Blackmore Vale.
“It is also clear that there he is the chairman of the Labour Trade Union movement (TULO).
“People will make their own mind up as to why the rail union baron decided to deflect attention when I asked him if he received direction from the Labour Party about taking strikes. Especially when the TUC fully paid for an outing of Shadow Cabinet members (including the Shadow Transport Secretary) and union leaders to go abroad with for a summit for hints and tips to on disrupting our country – when he said they have no intention of coming to any agreement to end this strike.”
He hit out at Mr O’Brien directly, saying the lack of a request for comment on his show ‘says everything about his programme’.
“James O’Brien is a well-known LBC presenter with left-wing views,” Mr Loder continued.
“If he did his research, he would know that I have been a member of two trade unions which he conveniently doesn’t mention.
“The £150,000+ that the ASLEF general secretary earns – a general secretary that also goes on holiday while his members are on strike.
“I am representing those who are unable to get to work to earn money, having to take hours off their working day to take children to school or college or because they’re unable to get to hospital because they are being held to ransom by this union and this general secretary.
“The fact that James O’Brien offered no right of reply nor asked me to contribute says everything about his programme, his style of journalism and his intention.”
This fool of an MP seems not to understand that the show is a phone in.
I’m quite sure that O’Brien would have loved to shred him.
I’m also quite sure that Loder wouldn’t dare call in.