Keir Starmer is under pressure over his stance on Labor MPs joining pickets after a shadow minister defied orders not to join striking workers, saying he was “on the side of members, not from the establishment.”
The Labor leader now faces a dilemma over whether to sack shadow transport minister Sam Tarry, who joined rail workers outside Euston station in London.
Senior Labor sources alleged that one of Tarry’s motives was to take a stand to help with his local constituency selection battle, where he faces being overruled in Ilford South.
Starmer has told shadow ministers not to join picket lines, stressing that Labor is a governing party that should aim to resolve disputes. Several shadow ministers who joined pickets during the latest strike did not lose their jobs, despite the warning.
Tarry, a former TSSA union executive who helped lead Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign, has not previously joined the picket lines as a shadow minister, although he tweeted a picture of himself alongside the workers on a previous strike day.
Ruth Jones, a shadow environment minister, has also released images in support of the strike. A shadow cabinet source said they believed Starmer’s position on picket lines would become untenable as the number of disputes escalated, with possible strikes planned by postal workers, NHS staff and teachers
“There will be other leaders who will want to support the striking workers in their constituencies,” they said.
Tarry told ITV News it was not his intention to challenge Starmer and said disputes would not happen under a Labor government. “I’m here supporting these striking workers because it’s important that we get a pay deal and get this resolved as soon as possible so the traveling public can get back to work,” he said.
“The reality is that this is a failed government, this is a dispute that is happening across the country. We have potentially doctors, nurses and communications workers.”
Tarry said, “No one said anything to me about whether or not I should be on a picket line today.”
A Labor source said the advice from party whips not to join the pickets had not been reissued since the first strikes but was still party policy.
Asked if he expected to be sacked, Tarry said: “If Labor were in power and I was secretary of state for transport, this row wouldn’t be happening.”
Other shadow ministers have not been sacked for attending pickets, although Tarry is the first to give several broadcast interviews from the strikes.
Senior Labor sources said they were skeptical of Tarry’s motives and linked it to his re-election battle in Ilford South. Wards in Tarry’s constituency voted unanimously for a full re-election, meaning he is likely to lose the seat.
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They suggested that Tarry was daring Starmer to fire him. One said: “He did not go to the first picket, but now he has come. So what’s changed?”
Tarry said after the interviews that he stood by the striking rail workers, tweeting a photo that said he was “on the side of the members, not the establishment.” He has previously written to Labor general secretary David Evans suggesting he had seen evidence of voting irregularities in his selection battle.
Tarry won the East London seat in 2019 after local council leader Jas Athwal was suspended from the party ahead of the vote over allegations of inappropriate behaviour. Athwal, an ally of neighboring MP Wes Streeting, was later cleared in an internal investigation.
Tarry’s is one of a number of possible trigger votes underway, with left-wing Labor MPs also calling for the re-election process against Apsana Begum in Poplar and Limehouse, east London, to be suspended over alleged misconduct by party members.
Labor did not respond to requests for comment.