Keir Starmer says he sacked MP for playing politics 'on the hoof' as labor war ignites

The decision to sack Shadow Transport Minister Sam Tarry has angered unions and figures on the left of the party, sparking a battle in the labor ranks

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Keir Starmer explains why Sam Tarry was fired

Keir Starmer says he sacked a shadow minister who joined a picket line for 'inventing clog policy' in a move that reignited Labour's civil war.

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Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said the decision to fire Sam Tarry was a "serious mistake" and accused the Labor leader of "misinterpreting" the level of public support for the strikers.

Mr. Tarry was sacked yesterday after giving a series of interviews from a picket line without permission from party headquarters, in which he backed the railway strikes and suggested workers should get higher pay rises to inflation.

Labour's official approach is to criticize the government for not solving the problem, rather than publicly supporting industrial action. Nor does it call for anti-inflationary wage increases.

Mr. Starmer said shadow ministers should not be on the picket line, but no one had been disciplined for joining industrial action until Mr Tarry was sacked on Wednesday.

Shadow Minister for Transport Sam Tarry (right) joins RMT union members on the picket line outside Euston Station (

Picture:

Wiktor Szymanowicz/REX/Shutterstock)

The decision angered unions and figures on the left of the party, sparking a public battle within Labor ranks.

Speaking during a visit to Birmingham, Mr Starmer insisted he must act to uphold party discipline.

He told reporters: "Sam Tarry was sacked because he engaged in media programs without permission and then made a clog policy, and that cannot be tolerated in any organization because we we have a collective responsibility.< /p>

“So it was relatively simple. Of course, in terms of industrial action, I completely understand the frustration of so many workers who have seen prices go up, seen inflation soar and their salaries have not increased.

"So the Labor Party will always be on the side of the workers...