Concern over union leader’s sudden death
Is anyone else just a little uneasy about the sudden death of RMT Union leader Bob Crow?
He died early this morning (Tuesday, March 11), according to the union, at the age of 52. Apparently he had suffered an aneurysm and heart attack, and passed away at Whipps Cross University Hospital.
Only yesterday, he had been widely reported as having spoken out in support of the controversial plan for an 11 per cent pay rise for MPs.
He said they should be “paid adequately” so they could have “decent accommodation”, and to ensure that those who are not independently wealth are not deterred from public service, according to the BBC.
Mr Crow was rumoured to earn £145,000 himself, against which the MP pay rise to £74,000 seems meagre. He has been criticised by the Conservative Party for continuing to live in council accommodation instead of buying his own house and, taken in this context, his words yesterday take on extra meaning.
Was he commenting on the way MPs who have been exposed after committing financial irregularites have continually excused themselves by saying they needed the money? Our Parliamentary representatives have been in the news almost constantly since 2009, accused of expenses fraud, or discrepancies to do with their second homes. Even part-time Chancellor George Osborne had a flutter – using taxpayers’ money to make £1 million on a house and land in his constituency, that he claimed he was using for professional purposes (this claim has never been substantiated).
He was definitely saying that people with pupblic service responsibilities need the wherewithal to carry out those duties without exposing themselves to financial hardship – and it would be hard for MPs to criticise his own living arrangements after he had spoken up for theirs.
Also, it is entirely possible that he was looking ahead to a post-2015 Parliament with far fewer Conservative MPs. In this context, it would be a (rare) unselfish act for the current ruling parties in Parliament to approve a pay rise for their opponents!
Now he is dead, and perhaps there is nothing suspicious about it.
Perhaps.
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This is not suspicious, It is the consequence of living your entire life fighting, of always, always being agitated and in confrontation. The blood pressure rockets, the vessels harden, years are lost from life expectancy.
He is not the first, he will not be the last, whose lives are cut short by the desire to fight against the uncaring corporatism of our society. I rarely wholy agreed with the man, but his death is sympomatic of just how hard it is to fight against the establishment. My thoughts are with his family. I think to try and sensationalise this incident beyond the consequence of the physiological impact of continuous struggle is in poor taste.
It would indeed be in poor taste.
It would also be hugely remiss of anyone with doubts not to voice their concerns.
I couldn’t agree with you more Jeff. An entire life fighting, being agitated and in confrontation certainly knocks years off your life and could certainly bring on an early death. Mr. Crow was a strong man who stood up for what he believed in. His continuous fight/confrontation quite possibly brought about his untimely death. Others are not so strong and less able to stand up and fight for what they believe because of unemployment, poverty, starvation, mental/physical impairment. They live a life of uncertainty, never knowing where the next meal is coming from. Their voices are never heard. These people are vulnerable and they are being ‘bashed’ and ‘run into the ground’ on a daily basis by this Government because they are ‘easy pickings’. Thousands and thousands have died an early death.This Government shows no moral responsibility whatsoever for the vulnerable and weak members of our society and they certainly live on ‘another planet’ It would help ‘if they came down to Earth once in a while’! The ‘Fight’ goes on for many with more poverty and ill health in the process! My condolences to Mr. Crow’s family and Friends.
It was my first thought Mike…
He did earn more but did he have the same unscrutinized perks of politicians. I can’t think of a reason for foul play except of course that he was very, very good at what he did. The RMT and unionists have suffered a huge loss he will not be easily replaced.
[…] Is anyone else just a little uneasy about the sudden death of RMT Union leader Bob Crow? He died early this morning (Tuesday, March 11), according to the union, at the age of 52. Apparently he had … […]
Aneurysms are fast and violent killers. Depending on where in the body they are they can be the start of a coma, or if it’s a massive one in the aorta, your body can pump all the blood out of your system in a matter of minutes. Very sad day.
I think it is a sign of the times that we live in, that many people’s first thought is one of suspicion. Just a few years ago we would have dismissed such thoughts as paranoid conspiracy theories. Shows what a few years of this Coalition have done to us.
My first thought was that it seemed strange he died after fighting against Boris making more people unemployed on the underground. These Tories seem more ruthless than ever to carry out their evil plans. Look at how their media is trying to make Labour look like paedophiles, when it was Thatcher who Knighted Savile and put him in charge of Broadmoor.
REALY PEOPLE, you are implying that mps have murdered him over a pay rise?????????? REALY what fantasy land do you live in ………..he was overweight and in his 50s a prime candidate for a heart attack,
Nobody implied that, although you have clearly inferred it. All I said was that I am uneasy about this. I’m not accusing anyone of anything; I’m uneasy.
we only have to look on how the sick and disabled die prematurely because of long term stress caused by the DWP
Some can take whilst others cant and die
as for bob he always was fighting to better the lives of his union membership and was a much better man then the PM who has never fought hard to make the lives better for it’s citizens
RIP Bob
So the suspicion is because he spoke up for the MP’s pay increase and you have interpretted that he ‘may’ have been bumped off by secret services? That would have to go down as one of the dumbest suppositions ever. There are many suspicious things happening in politics to do with corruption maybe even leading to murder but this is not one of them. Duh!
No.
You have inferred that from the article, but it isn’t what I said.
How do you know what happened?
And why are you so keen to squash any concern – to the point where you cannot even engage in civilised conversation about it?
A bit shocked to see some are uneasy about the nature of Bob Crow’s sudden death – has there to be suspicion about everything nowadays? Wouldn’t it be a bit more respectful to delay voicing their concerns so soon after the guy has just passed away?
No.
There would be absolutely no point in waiting to voice any concerns until it is too late to do anything about it.
Surely it is up to the police, hospital, family etc, etc, to voice concerns, if they have any, not you.
No.
Any right-thinking person should be able to raise concerns about any issue, if they think it is necessary and worthwhile.
Reblogged this on Beastrabban’s Weblog.
The man always put the union members first, so I guess we will have unmanned stations and trains now. Not on your watch big man. Rip
Knowing the depths of depravity this government will sink to achieve its inhuman objectives, I would suggest anything is possible. My mind is open and indeed just a little suspicious, and will remain so. Whatever the final outcome.
see also,Dr David Kelly, Robin Cook,Tony Banks just for starters
[…] raised my own concerns about Bob Crow in an article earlier today, at http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2014/03/11/concern-over-union-leaders-sudden-death/ – and received criticism for it from certain parties. Will my naysayers have anything to say […]
devastating news for all ordinary people in the UK and a terrible time to lose one of our greatest leaders
[…] The DWP could be about to privatise delivery of the state pension, according to a leaked report. Many may have missed this revelation because of today’s other, more high-profile events. […]
I don’t think he was murdered, but I do think this government is pleased that he died when he did.
An “aneurysm and heart attack” ho hum! I wouldn’t put it past the spooks of the ConDem nation to have thought it would be a jolly good wheze to inject a quantity of air into a blood vessel… I do hope the “independent” corinor (spelling?) does a good job of checking for puncture wounds!
Purely to save you from having to look it up: Coroner.
Thanks Mike, usually using Debian/firefox and its inbuilt spellchucker it would suggest a relevant “correct” alternative, but in this case it couldn’t find or present something that matched it… Sometimes the “UK English” is sadly lacking, and the “US English” doesn’t have an alternative.
gotta love “vive la difference” ;-)
Just because you’re paranoid it doesn’t mean they’re not out to to get you…
My first thoughts exactly Mike occurring at a very convenient moment in time with regard to the union’s fight. We cannot underestimate how such a loss is going to affect their operations and the high profile Bob was able to provide.
Lets remember people, all the naysayers: NO ONE but NO ONE is going to be allowed to mess with London.
Sasson Hann
[…] Is anyone else just a little uneasy about the sudden death of RMT Union leader Bob Crow? He died early …Continue reading → […]
The government has “targeted individual” programmes in line with the USA with Obama authorising the use of assassination use techniques on people they deem as a threat. This is well known if you google, “targeted individuals”. And look up Robert Duncan, a former CIA worker who worked on these targeted individuals programmes for the CIA and NSA. They use technology to kill people off these days… see his book: Project Soul Catcher.
Not having read any of this material, I feel bound to append the word “allegedly” to this comment. I’m not saying it’s wrong – just that I haven’t read the material yet.