Far-left doctors employed “Marxist” tactics to secure leadership of the British Medical Association

Far-left doctors, who have used Marxist tactics to secure leadership of the British Medical Association, are pushing for coordinated strikes with other unions.

Young radicals on the doctors’ union board have already joined forces to make a BMA ‘solidarity donation’ to the strike fund of Mick Lynch’s RMT rail union.

It comes after 48,000 junior doctors from the BMA in England were elected to strike last week. That could lead to an unprecedented 72-hour strike in March as they demand a 30 percent pay rise.

But revelations about ties to other hardline unions will raise fears of a de facto general strike that would paralyze Britain.

Young radicals on the doctors’ union board have already joined forces to make a BMA ‘solidarity donation’ to the strike fund of Mick Lynch’s RMT rail union

It is the culmination of the work of a small group of doctors in their 20s who formed the Broad Left group a year ago.

Their name comes from a Communist Party strategy of “uniting to seize positions within a union” and moving it to the left to “win concessions from capitalism and the state.”

Kicking off with a question and answer session on social media, the group’s Marxist connections weren’t lost on one medic who asked, “Do you want your logo to look a bit like the hammer and sickle?”

The leadership dodged the question but has since made a notable ascent, working hand-in-hand with Doctor’s Vote, a group of medical professionals who are only demanding a whopping 30 percent pay rise.

Together they managed to win 26 of the 69 spots on the BMA Council in April, before grabbing 59 of the 60 spots on the BMA’s Resident Physician Committee in September.

Far-left doctors, who have used Marxist tactics to secure leadership of the British Medical Association, are pushing for coordinated strikes with other unions

Revelations about ties to other hardline unions will raise fears of a de facto general strike that would paralyze Britain

Among those elected to the BMA Council was Dr. Jo Sutton-Klein, a founding member of the broad left, self-proclaimed socialist and Labor Party member who has vowed to make the BMA a “fighting union”.

She was one of 25 BMA councilors who urged the doctors’ union to “make a statement of solidarity” with the RMT.

The BMA issued a statement last summer expressing its “solidarity with the railroad workers and the RMT in their ongoing dispute.”

dr Sutton-Klein, 28, was among the councilors who contributed to a collective BMA donation of £1,000 to the RMT strike fund.

Professor Philip Banfield, chief executive of the Doctors’ Union, said the contribution “represents the essential bond shared between organized workers today”.

dr Sutton-Klein posted a blog on the BMA website saying her donation was intended to allow the rail union to “strike longer”.

Professor Philip Banfield, Chair of the Doctors’ Union Council, said the contribution “represents the essential bond shared between organized workers today”.

dr Sutton-Klein has urged the BMA to work with other militant unions. She tried to coordinate action by tweeting the Manchester University Health Branch of Unison in November, writing: “I am a BMA organizer at MRI [Manchester Royal Infirmary].

“I’m looking to get in touch with representatives from other unions at MRI to coordinate union organizing in the workplace!”

The junior doctor also admitted that “if it were necessary” she would support a “full-fledged strike including emergency care”.

A handful of junior doctors founded Broad Left after discussions about payment with like-minded medical professionals on the social media site Reddit.

It was set up for BMA members to push through their left-wing agenda. Although it has no direct ties to other unions, there are many other broad left groups.

The RMT has a broad left-wing group supporting Marxist Alex Gordon, a British Communist Party executive who serves as president of the rail union.

The broad left’s success in conquering the BMA has been attributed to the use of tactics straight out of the playbook of Momentum, the hard left faction that supported Jeremy Corbyn.

Perhaps the best example of this is the election of the Broad Left’s ringleader, Dr. Emma Runswick – who calls herself Red Runswick – as Vice Chair of the BMA Council last July.

The broad left’s success in conquering the BMA has been attributed to the use of tactics straight out of the playbook of Momentum, the hard left faction that supported Jeremy Corbyn

Her mother, Kathy Runswick, was a momentum-supporting constituency Labor Party leader who supported Mr Corbyn.

The 27-year-old mental health trainee from Manchester has assured fellow medics that the 30 per cent pay rise is “affordable”.

Her group claims inflation has caused them a 26 percent real pay cut since 2008. dr Runswick shares her parents’ hatred of everything conservative and accuses the party of racism.

Another young doctor and founder of Broad Left who was elected to the BMA Council is Dr. Rebecca Acres, 31, from Studley, Warwickshire. She describes herself as a Christian who “thinks that Jesus would have been leftist by modern standards.”

She is not a Labor member and says the party under Sir Keir Starmer is just “proto-fascist Red Tories”.

dr Rebecca Bates, 28, is also a founding member of the Broad Left and was elected to the BMA Council. She described the 2015 Conservative victory as a “Tory nightmare”.

Professor Banfield said: “The BMA is incredibly proud of these talented doctors who have worked their way up to this day as part of our democratically elected council. These doctors rightly want to fight for all doctors to be paid fairly.”