Starmer faces a clash with Left on union picket lines
SIR KEIR STARMER faces a fresh showdown with Left-wing Labour MPS after he ordered them not to join striking rail workers yesterday.
He warned them to stay away from the picket lines, with any shadow ministers who break the edict risking disciplinary action.
However, his stance prompted a furious reaction from backbenchers who said the party should be supporting staff who have walked out.
The Labour leader stands by his insistence that MPS stay away from the strikes to prove the party is ready for government, allies said.
But the order has opened up divisions within the party and has angered those on the Left, including some of his own top team.
Sam Tarry, a former shadow transport minister, hit back at the threat of disciplinary action against those who join the picket lines. “The vast majority of Labour MPS, party members, many in the shadow cabinet, and Labour supporters, are fully behind workers taking strike action,” he said.
“No Labour politician at any level should face any sanctions for standing in solidarity on picket lines with these workers who were Britain’s Covid heroes during the pandemic.”
Jeremy Corbyn, the former party leader who now sits as an independent MP, added: “I was elected on a promise to join workers on the picket line. Supporting those on strike isn’t a matter of strategy. It’s a matter of principle.”
Ahead of the summer rail strikes Sir Keir openly clashed with Angela Rayner, his deputy, over the order to stay away from picket lines.
He then sacked Mr Tarry from his shadow transport role for turning up at a picket and calling for inflation-matching pay rises. Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, also defied the ban a few days later by joining BT workers on strike in her constituency. But she insisted that this time: “I’m not planning to rush down to a picket line”.
Sir Keir also faced fresh rumblings within the party over his insistence that a 19 per cent pay rise for health workers is “unaffordable”.