The comments come in the wake of the RMT railway workers ‘strikes and the threat of doctors’ unions and other unions from strike action over wage negotiations. Members of RMT are asking for a salary increase of 7 percent, but have so far been offered only three percent and it is believed that NHS workers in England will also be offered 3 percent despite inflation rising to 9.1 percent.
Mr Gardiner spoke to host Mark Dolan on GB News who said: “I do not have to ask you what Margaret Thatcher would have done to the unions, because she did it in the 1980s, she faced them. “
Mrs Thatcher’s former aide quickly agreed with Mr Dolan’s remarks, adding that before her leadership in office “Britain was the sick man of Europe”.
He said: “Margaret Thatcher confronted the socialist unions that brought Britain to its knees.
“Britain was the sick man of Europe before Margaret Thatcher became prime minister.”
He added: “She defeated the socialist left and the victory over extremely evil unions, some of them Stalinist in prospect, it was a great victory for the British people, a victory for the cause of freedom and liberty over those who tried to undermine Great Britain and the British economy. “
Members of the public took to Twitter to criticize GB News and Nile Gardiners comments with user @McdowallRose saying: “They are hardly far left unions.
“For heaven’s sake, they are asking for a salary increase under inflation, it is a wage reduction.
“I do not know on what planet these men are.”
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Mr Gardiner continued: “Margaret Thatcher has really changed the tide against union power. A series of bills were also introduced so that there was legislation that dramatically reduced the power of unions.
“They held Britain hostage. They were literally destroying the British economy, they did not care about the British people, today we see echoes of it in Britain with the unions basically holding the country to ransom, causing unprecedented misery, it is absolutely unacceptable .
“We need to see that Thatcherite is determined in the face of these far-left unions.”
More people commented during the GB News clip, saying: “So let’s see how GB News tries to convince people to join the unions while at the same time not being able to afford to eat or heat up. Go ahead, do your best GB News. ”
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Meanwhile, user @ AntheaJayne4 tweeted: “Nile Gardiner is in the spot. A leader cannot be held.
“They need the determination to ignore the difference of opinion while delivering the majority on which they voted in government.
“To read the room and continue to deliver what a majority of a Tory government expects. They are not meant to please people. ”