Profile: Bob Crow

Bob Crow grew up in a working-class family in Shadwell, east London, and began work on the London Underground at 16.

He worked his way to the top of the RMT Union, was elected leader in 2002, developed a reputation as a left-winger and tough negotiator and led his members in the first national rail strike for 16 years.

He believes that Britain should become a republic, that Tony Benn should be its elected president and that Arthur Scargill was "the best trade union leader we have ever seen". He also says all privatised companies should be renationalised.

A bust of Lenin adorns his desk at RMT HQ, and Mr Crow has summed up his political philosophy in the slogan of Che Guevara: "Hasta la victoria siempre". His translation was: "Forever onwards until the victory."