Sacked shadow minister accuses Keir Starmer of ‘complete car crash’

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Keir Starmer’s ban on Labour MPs going on picket lines was a “fundamental mistake” that caused a “complete car crash” in a week when the party should have been talking about increasing workers’ wages, Sam Tarry has said after he was sacked from his role as a shadow minister after media appearances at an RMT picket line.

In a defiant riposte to the Labour leadership as he once again joined a picket line, the MP rejected Starmer’s statement that he had been sacked for making up policy “on the hoof” as he stood alongside striking workers during rail action. Trade unions were the ones “showing true leadership at the moment,” he added.

“At the end of the day I thought it was time we were really clear about who’s side we were on and I am on the side of ordinary British workers,” said Tarry, giving fresh interviews after joining striking workers from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) on Friday morning in central London.

“I didn’t make up policy. All I said is that surely it should be right that we make an offer to workers in this country that matches inflation, because otherwise all they are getting offered is a real terms pay cut,” he told Sky News.

Starmer, who removed Tarry from the party’s frontbench earlier this week as shadow minister for buses and local transport, has previously warned shadow ministers not to join picket lines, although several did so during the last rail strikes in June and did not lose their jobs.

The Guardian understands Tarry was told he was sacked for saying that it was “not acceptable to offer below inflation pay rises” because it would be a real-terms pay cut for workers.

Tarry was told Labour’s position was that it was for ministers and unions to negotiate terms. That dispute is likely to cause significant alarm from trade unions about Labour’s position, including those affiliated to the party.

Tarry said on Friday: “This isn’t about me or Keir Starmer. This is about the Labour party demonstrating it’s on the side of ordinary British workers in this country.

“I think it’s a fundamental mistake to ban Labour MPs from being on picket lines. It shouldn’t happen, never happen. It has caused a complete car crash in a week when we should have been talking about what we are going to do to raise wages for the British people.”

Asked if a general strike was a prospect, Tarry said he didn’t believe it was on the cards but that trade unions needed to work together to fight back against the government.

“They are the people showing true leadership at the moment. They are the people standing up for British workers,” he added.