Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has twice refused to back Keir Starmer over the sacking of a shadow minister who attended a picket line.
Sarwar said it was for Starmer to make decisions about his MPs but pointedly said he encouraged his MSPs to get on the frontline backing workers.
Sam Tarry was fired as a junior transport minister last week after he defied a ban on attending a picket by striking rail workers.
Starmer claimed his sacking was caused by Tarry making up policy on the “hoof” in a TV interview that had not been agreed in advance
The decision was criticised by trade union leaders who believe Starmer made the story about himself, rather than the Tories.
Sarwar has also taken a different approach after he attended picket lines for striking rail and postal workers.
At a press conference in Edinburgh, Sarwar was asked if he backed Starmer’s decision to sack Tarry.
He said: “I'm not going to tell Keir how to manage his group. And I imagine I wouldn't take very kindly to him trying to tell me how to manage my group.
"The bottom line is this, that going back to the actual principle of the strike action and the issue of the day, people know my opinion, people know that I have been on the frontline supporting people on the pickets, talking to them, listening to their issues.
“I was out this week, for example, with [trade union] CWU workers who are working for BT, a company that's posted £1.7bn in profit.”
“I was there listening to workers, hearing from them on the front line about the situation we face. And the reality we have here is this is not a situation that's about personalities, or about individual political leaders, myself, Keir or anybody else.”
Asked the same question again, he replied: “I'm not going to tell him how to run his group. That's for him to decide how to run his group. I have been very clear about how I will operate my group.
“I've seen many of my own front bench colleagues out supporting people on the front line. I encourage them to do it. I'm pleased they to do it and they have my full backing and support.”
He was also asked if Starmer had made the issue about personality by sacking Tarry.
Sarwar said: "I'm not going into the ins and outs of how he manages his group. I think you'll have seen [shadow cabinet member] Lisa Nandy, my colleague, was out with CWU workers just in the last couple of days."
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