'Twaddle!' Richard Madeley accused of talking nonsense by rail union chief

Richard Madeley was accused of talking nonsense during a live interview with rail union chief Mick Lynch on Good Morning Britain.The RMT general secretary appeared on the ITV breakfast show to discuss the rail strikes, and Madeley asked him if he was 'a Marxist' to which Lynch replied: Lynch replied: "Richard, you do come up with the most remarkable twaddle sometimes, I've got to say - opening an interview with that is nonsense."

Video transcript

- You've been accused severally in the last few weeks of being a Marxist. It happened again last night, a backbench Tory MP said, "You were a Marxist with no interest in anything other than trying to tear down the government." Now, are you or are you not a Marxist? Because if you are a Marxist, then you're in to revolution and into bringing down capitalism. So are you or aren't you?

[LAUGHTER]

- Richard, you do come up with the most remarkable twaddles sometimes, I've got to say.

- Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't say you were a Marxist, I'm saying you're being accused of being a Marxist. And that's not twaddle, that's called reporting.

- No, I'm not a Marxist, I'm an elected official of the RMG. I'm a working class bloke leading a trade union dispute about jobs, pay, and conditions of service. So it's got nothing to do with Marxism, it's all about this dispute. It's an industrial dispute and that's what it's all about.

- Absolutely. I emphasize I am not talking twaddle and accusing you of being a Marxist, I'm merely quoting people who are, including many of the newspapers.

- Well, that's what it sounds like to me.

- Well, I'm sorry if it did, but I don't think it was.