Weasel Words and Seedy Bars
The Mail newspaper ran an interesting story about Derek Simpson last year - after a British tourist spotted the Unite general secretary enjoying himself in a seedy Bangkok Bar.
Now to be fair - maybe Derek and his Unite chum (another bloke of course) - just stumbled into the bar - all unsuspecting and innocent.
Or maybe he was on a recruitment drive - and just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In any event, he now has £500,000 in his back pocket - courtesy of Unite's 1.5 million members - so he can do what he likes in future.
Funny that the Unite Assistant General Secretary - the union's spokesperson on women and equality issues - had nothing to say.
BA union boss and a Bangkok go-go bar: Two-day stopover paid for by Unite included visit to seedy joint
By Christopher Leake and Andrew Drummond - 28th March 2010
"Thai visit: Derek Simpson, the General Secretary of Unite, was spotted at a Bangkok bar where sex is sold for £40
The boss of the trade union behind the British Airways strike has admitted visiting a seedy go-go bar while on official business in Thailand.
Derek Simpson and fellow Unite official Terry Pye went to the Playskool bar in Bangkok where young women offer customers sex for £40.
Mr Simpson, 64, whose union’s membership includes thousands of women, including hundreds of female cabin crew at BA, drank beer in the bar while girls dressed only in bikinis danced on stage.
Women who work at Playskool are forced to earn a living by selling sex to customers. Their wages are cut substantially by the bar owners unless they sleep with at least nine clients every month.
A British tourist who was in the bar says he saw the two union men enjoying a drink there.
Mr Simpson, the £105,000-a-year joint general secretary of Unite, and Mr Pye, the union’s national officer for the steel industry, were in Bangkok at the end of last month during a crucial period of negotiations aimed at averting the current series of BA cabin crew strikes over pay and conditions.
They flew to Thailand at union expense for a two-day stopover to meet union leaders from the Thai motor industry.
From there they flew on to Sydney where they met Australian union bosses to discuss Unite’s plans to form a global trade union.
Last night Unite refused to reveal the cost of the trip, but union insiders estimated the bill came to around £2,000, including two £659 return economy flights on the Taiwanese airline EVA. Accommodation in Australia was paid for by the Australian unions.
Mr Simpson was spotted in Bangkok on February 28 by Denis Simons, 72, from Northampton, his wife Hazel and their son Lee, 47.
Mr Simons, who as a former Shell tanker driver was a member of the Transport & General Workers’ Union, now part of Unite, said: ‘I could not believe my eyes. There, right in front of me, was Derek Simpson.
‘Unfortunately, I could not keep my mouth shut and shouted to my wife, “There’s Derek Simpson!” Simpson looked me straight in the eye and turned and went purposefully into a bar called Playskool.’
Mr Simons added: ‘I would never mistake Derek Simpson. My wife and I have only recently watched him being interviewed on BBC Question Time with David Dimbleby.’
Lee Simons, who followed Mr Simpson into the bar, said: ‘When I went in, Derek was sitting there. He stared at me straight away. I ordered a drink, looked up at the dancers in bikinis, and then looked around, and Derek was gone.’
Last night, Mr Simpson, who lives with his partner Freda Knight, whom he calls ‘Fred’ and to whom he was previously married, denied any impropriety.
He said: ‘It was entirely innocent, and I left before I finished my drink.
‘I’d never been to Bangkok before, so it was a bit of an eye-opener for me. We walked to the bar, which was a stone’s throw from our hotel.
‘Actually, it’s not my thing. I am, in fact, a tad prudish. I’ve been like that all my life.
'I never liked being in pubs with guys leering over at girls stripping off their nurses’ uniforms. It’s just not my scene.
‘We spent much more time in another bar where there were three Filipino girls singing like the Sugababes.
'After that, we sat in bamboo chairs and drank a few lagers back in the hotel.’
Playskool derives its name from a time when the bar girls dressed in school uniforms. Tourists can rent nearby hotel rooms by the hour.
Girls employed at the bar dance in bikinis, and there is more on offer for clients willing to pay an average £40 for sex or around £10 for a conversation with the girls.
There is only one entrance to the area, which is just 200 yards from tourist hotels. Nearby are Irish-themed pubs and snooker bars, which serve drinks, but are not involved in the sex trade.
Diana Holland, Unite’s assistant general secretary on women and equality issues, declined to comment.
A spokesman for Unite said that the union had no comment."
Now to be fair - maybe Derek and his Unite chum (another bloke of course) - just stumbled into the bar - all unsuspecting and innocent.
Or maybe he was on a recruitment drive - and just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In any event, he now has £500,000 in his back pocket - courtesy of Unite's 1.5 million members - so he can do what he likes in future.
Funny that the Unite Assistant General Secretary - the union's spokesperson on women and equality issues - had nothing to say.
BA union boss and a Bangkok go-go bar: Two-day stopover paid for by Unite included visit to seedy joint
By Christopher Leake and Andrew Drummond - 28th March 2010
"Thai visit: Derek Simpson, the General Secretary of Unite, was spotted at a Bangkok bar where sex is sold for £40
The boss of the trade union behind the British Airways strike has admitted visiting a seedy go-go bar while on official business in Thailand.
Derek Simpson and fellow Unite official Terry Pye went to the Playskool bar in Bangkok where young women offer customers sex for £40.
Mr Simpson, 64, whose union’s membership includes thousands of women, including hundreds of female cabin crew at BA, drank beer in the bar while girls dressed only in bikinis danced on stage.
Women who work at Playskool are forced to earn a living by selling sex to customers. Their wages are cut substantially by the bar owners unless they sleep with at least nine clients every month.
A British tourist who was in the bar says he saw the two union men enjoying a drink there.
Mr Simpson, the £105,000-a-year joint general secretary of Unite, and Mr Pye, the union’s national officer for the steel industry, were in Bangkok at the end of last month during a crucial period of negotiations aimed at averting the current series of BA cabin crew strikes over pay and conditions.
They flew to Thailand at union expense for a two-day stopover to meet union leaders from the Thai motor industry.
From there they flew on to Sydney where they met Australian union bosses to discuss Unite’s plans to form a global trade union.
Last night Unite refused to reveal the cost of the trip, but union insiders estimated the bill came to around £2,000, including two £659 return economy flights on the Taiwanese airline EVA. Accommodation in Australia was paid for by the Australian unions.
Mr Simpson was spotted in Bangkok on February 28 by Denis Simons, 72, from Northampton, his wife Hazel and their son Lee, 47.
Mr Simons, who as a former Shell tanker driver was a member of the Transport & General Workers’ Union, now part of Unite, said: ‘I could not believe my eyes. There, right in front of me, was Derek Simpson.
‘Unfortunately, I could not keep my mouth shut and shouted to my wife, “There’s Derek Simpson!” Simpson looked me straight in the eye and turned and went purposefully into a bar called Playskool.’
Mr Simons added: ‘I would never mistake Derek Simpson. My wife and I have only recently watched him being interviewed on BBC Question Time with David Dimbleby.’
Lee Simons, who followed Mr Simpson into the bar, said: ‘When I went in, Derek was sitting there. He stared at me straight away. I ordered a drink, looked up at the dancers in bikinis, and then looked around, and Derek was gone.’
Last night, Mr Simpson, who lives with his partner Freda Knight, whom he calls ‘Fred’ and to whom he was previously married, denied any impropriety.
He said: ‘It was entirely innocent, and I left before I finished my drink.
‘I’d never been to Bangkok before, so it was a bit of an eye-opener for me. We walked to the bar, which was a stone’s throw from our hotel.
‘Actually, it’s not my thing. I am, in fact, a tad prudish. I’ve been like that all my life.
'I never liked being in pubs with guys leering over at girls stripping off their nurses’ uniforms. It’s just not my scene.
‘We spent much more time in another bar where there were three Filipino girls singing like the Sugababes.
'After that, we sat in bamboo chairs and drank a few lagers back in the hotel.’
Playskool derives its name from a time when the bar girls dressed in school uniforms. Tourists can rent nearby hotel rooms by the hour.
Girls employed at the bar dance in bikinis, and there is more on offer for clients willing to pay an average £40 for sex or around £10 for a conversation with the girls.
There is only one entrance to the area, which is just 200 yards from tourist hotels. Nearby are Irish-themed pubs and snooker bars, which serve drinks, but are not involved in the sex trade.
Diana Holland, Unite’s assistant general secretary on women and equality issues, declined to comment.
A spokesman for Unite said that the union had no comment."
