RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch and MP Jeremy Corbyn appeared at Downing Street to voice concerns about the potential closing of ticket offices.
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00:00 Mick Lynch, Jeremy Corbyn joined up with the RMT union and supporters as they rallied at Downing Street.
00:08 The protesters voiced concerns about plans to close ticket offices and what that would mean for the general public, disabled and elderly people at stations across the UK.
00:20 I'm here to support the RMT call for a demonstration to defend our ticket offices against closure.
00:26 Ticket offices are an important part of our community. Obviously those that work in them do a great job, but it's also the other things they do besides selling tickets, giving people support, giving people advice and making sure that they get to where they need to go.
00:42 We close the ticket offices, we make it very difficult for those with disabilities, those with hearing difficulties, those with sight difficulties, those with mobility problems to get any help or support whatsoever.
00:53 And the alternative which the government is suggesting is one person walking around a station with a ticket machine is simply not acceptable.
01:01 That individual would be vulnerable, they wouldn't be able to access all the information that is accessible in the ticket office and then once again it would be a destruction of what is an important public service. Keep the ticket offices.
01:18 People up and down this country are sick and tired of their communities being hollowed out. Our post offices are being closed, our pubs are being closed, our banks have withdrawn from the high street.
01:32 Everywhere we go all the community assets are being hollowed out in the name of profit, in the name of modernisation. That is the most abused word along with reform, modernisation. It cuts, cuts, cuts. That's all we get from this lot over here.
01:52 And let's not forget the responsibility for this is not with the train operating companies as much as we dislike them. It's with Rishi Sunak and the top people in the cabinet.
02:04 The choice and the decision to shut the ticket offices, to de-staff our stations, to make a quarter of our members working on the stations redundant in the notices they've already given to us is a political decision by Rishi Sunak.
02:21 [Cheering]
02:29 We at the ticket offices provide an essential services, people with disabilities, for anyone who needs a human contact to talk to somebody to use our railways.
02:41 But in response Jacqueline Starr from the Rail Delivery Group has assured the changes were necessary to free up staff and save the taxpayer money. She claims now is the right time to move staff to more flexible and engaging roles.
02:55 There's a storm coming, make sure the Tories feel it and let's win for our class and for our people. Thank you very much and good night.