Boris Johnson has a powerful enemy, who is beginning to make his presence felt: Bob Crow. Crow is general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, and an ex member of the Communist party. Not the sort of person who would take kindly to Boris Johnson anyway, especially since one of Johnson’s manifesto pledges was to “take the thumbs of the RMT off the windpipe of London commuters”, and he described the “stranglehold of the RMT on the neck of the London commuter” in a speech to the London Business School in January.
Crow described Boris’ new Deputy Mayor, Tim Parker, as the “Prince of Darkness”, as I mentioned in an earlier post, and was quick to criticise Boris’ proposed ban on booze on the tube, claiming it was “has been poorly thought through, is being implemented in haste and could put our members in greater danger”. He argued that enforcement of the ban would force underground staff to confront drinkers on the tube, which would do nothing but lead to greater levels of violence against staff. He also claimed that it took three weeks after the ban was announced for the Mayor’s office to meet with union safety representatives to discuss it.
Crow has a point, but remember that it is his job first and foremost to represent the interests of union members. Were the ban fundamentally a good thing (and I’ve previously argued that it isn’t), the mere fact the enforcing it will potentially lead to violence isn’t necessarily a killer argument.
The events of last night, however, gave Crow more ammunition for his big angry anti-Boris gun. A bunch of people organised a party on the circle line to celebrate the last night of legal drinking on the tube, and a bunch of idiots got angry and spoiled it by getting violent, assaulting and spitting on staff, vomiting and damaging the trains, leading to 17 arrests.
From Bob Crow’s perspective, all of this is Boris Johnson’s fault. In an official statement he said “We warned that [the ban] could put out members at greater risk of assault, but there is no comfort in being proved right when Tube workers have been injured and abused.” Furthermore, according to Crow, “Johnson should apologise personally to all those who were assaulted and abused last night.”
In this Crow has gone too far. Yes, the ban is a bad idea, poorly thought through, and seemingly done without consulting the RMT, which was a mistake. Yes, it will probably lead to greater levels of violence against staff when it comes into effect, while people adjust to the idea of not being allowed to drink, and it’s not obvious that people will ever fully adjust. But what happened last night, while it occurred as a result of Boris Johnson’s actions, was not Boris Johnson’s fault. The stated aim of the party was: “Enjoy one last blowout party while it’s still legal!” This wasn’t supposed to be a riot or a demonstration, but rather a celebration. In fact, the plan suggested by the organisers was that revellers stick to the last carriage of each train, in an attempt to “minimize the impact we might have on those who aren’t in a fun mood.”
Where it went wrong is that the British are incapable of having fun with alcohol without it going wrong. According to the Tube Party facebook group, the original partygoers weren’t to blame. This morning the group was updated with the message: “FUN ALL ROUND, NO SCENES OF VANDALISM OR ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR UNTIL THE REST OF LONDON JOINED AT NIGHT”. While I’ll take this with a pinch of salt, it’s clear that the original intention of the vast majority of party-goers was not to cause trouble. But then they got drunk, and trouble happened by itself.
So: while it’s because of Boris’s ill-thought-out ban that large numbers of people ended up drinking on the tube last night, it’s not his fault that it turned ugly. For that you have to blame our terrible, terrible drinking culture. Bob Crow is wrong to point the finger, but you can bet he’ll keep pointing it. Crow is definitely one to watch as Boris’ Mayorship unfolds (or unravels).
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