The f lying picket… Rayner’s partner at another union rally
Sacked MP defies Starmer over strikes again
THE rebel MP sacked by Sir Keir Starmer goaded the Labour leader again yesterday by joining another picket line.
Sam Tarry was fired as the party’s transport spokesman for making up policy ‘on the hoof’ in unauthorised interviews.
Mr Tarry had given the interviews while he was out supporting striking rail workers in direct defiance of an order from Sir Keir.
Labour shadow ministers had been warned to stay away from the picket lines, with Sir Keir saying the party was effectively a governmentin-waiting, and that: ‘A government doesn’t go on picket lines, a government tries to resolve disputes.’
The sacking sparked outrage from Left-wingers and created a new rift between Angela Rayner, who is both his partner and deputy Labour leader, and Sir Keir.
Mr Tarry risked further infuriating the opposition leader by publicly criticising him on the picket line yesterday morning.
The MP for Ilford South even posed for photos with suspended former leader Jeremy Corbyn and his socialist ally John McDonnell.
Also present was Dave Ward, head of the Communication Workers Union, whose members in BT and Openreach were taking part in the first national telecoms strike in decades.
Mr Tarry posted photos of the protest on social media and wrote: ‘Proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with CWU and Dave Ward at BT Tower in central London on the picket line with striking BT workers this morning.
‘Britain deserves and needs a pay rise. I’ll always stand with workers demanding their fair share and defending our freedoms.’
Addressing the rally, Mr Tarry said Labour should be defending workers who were fighting for pay rises that match the soaring cost of living. He said: ‘We need a Labour leadership that is prepared to stand up and does not look the other way when BT workers are going to food banks. It is not good enough for the Labour Party to say that we probably won’t be able to give you a pay rise in line with inflation.
‘Because that means the Labour Party is committed to cutting people’s wages in real terms and that is totally unacceptable.’
He said Labour had to be on the side of working people and that it was time to ‘fight back’ and ‘reclaim our party’.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Tarry said he had been surprised to be sacked by Sir Keir for giving unplanned interviews from the RMT union picket line on Wednesday.
‘I thought it was about time that we were really clear about whose side we’re on,’ he said.
Sir Keir has insisted the decision to sack Mr Tarry’s was ‘relatively straightforward’.
He added: ‘Sam Tarry was sacked because he booked himself on to media programmes without permission, and then made up policy on the hoof, and that can’t be tolerated in any organisation because we’ve got collective responsibility.’
‘Tries to resolve disputes’