Starmer stance on rail strikes ‘may end’ Labour party, union chief warns

Labour leader’s order to stay away from picket lines has angered left of party

(Kate Osborne/Twitter)

A senior union leader has warned that Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of the railway strikes “may end” the Labour party.

Starmer has infuriated many on the left of the party by ordering Labour frontbenchers to stay away from picket lines during the RMT dispute which brought much of the UK’s rail network to a halt for a second day today.

The comment by Mick Whelan, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef and co-chair with Starmer of the Tulo organisation which co-ordinates union support for Labour, reflects the depth of the rift within the movement over the leader’s stance.

Mr Whelan was responding to comments from former Starmer aide Simon Fletcher, who told LBC radio that the Labour leader had got his approach to the strike “quite badly wrong” and “created a very bad feeling” in the party.

The Aslef boss tweeted in response: “May end the party.”

In an email to shadow ministers ahead of the first rail walkout on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: “We must show leadership and to that end, please be reminded that frontbenchers including [parliamentary private secretaries] should not be on picket lines.

“Please speak to all the members of your team to remind them of this and confirm with me that you have done so.”

His edict was widely taken as a warning that any frontbenchers seen on picket lines could be sacked or even lose the Labour whip.

But at least four members of Starmer’s top team ignored the warning, while north of the border Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar joined a picket line.

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock last night said he would have voted for industrial action if he was an RMT member.

“Yes, I would,” he told Sky News’ The Take with Sophy Ridge.

“Because I think that there is the right to strike and it’s really important that workforces have that right to strike. We believe that rail workers, health workers, people working in every industry that has done so much as well to keep our economy going through the pandemic, have the right to strike and to fight for a better deal.”

Starmer’s official spokesperson on Wednesday appeared to be backing away from suggestions of automatic dismissal, saying that chief whip Alan Campbell would speak to frontbenchers who had joined pickets after the three days of planned strikes are concluded.