Labour MP Sam Tarry, who was sacked from his role as a shadow transport minister earlier this week after giving interviews at picket line for striking rail workers, joined a rally for on Friday morning.
Addressing the Communication Workers Union (CWU) rally as thousands of BT and Openreach workers strike in a dispute over pay, Tarry said “it’s good to be back.” He said: “We need a Labour leadership that is prepared to stand up and does not look the other way when BT workers are going to foodbanks.”
Mr Tarry, who is in a relationship with deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner, said “people need to have a really hard think about what the Labour Party is for” if he was fired for remarks made on live TV in favour of pay rises in line with inflation. His removal from Sir Keir Starmer’s top team has been met with fury by unions and the left wing of the party.
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He said the Labour Party needed to be clear they would defend workers' right to the hilt and extend their rights in the workplace: "For me the clue is in the name: Labour. On the side of working people.”
He added that “things were changing” and it was “time to fight back” and “reclaim our party.”
Labour leader Sir Keir said he sacked Tarry for booking himself onto media programmes without permission and making up policy “on the hoof.”
Speaking during a visit to Birmingham on Thursday, the Sir Keir said: “That can’t be tolerated in any organisation because we’ve got collective responsibility. So that was relatively straightforward.”
It is understood the policy Mr Tarry was considered to have fabricated was when he told Sky News every worker should get a pay rise in line with inflation.
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader and now independent MP, joined Tarry at the rally for workers of the telecoms giant. Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: “I think the duty of Labour MPs is to support its affiliates.
"The CWU is an affiliated union, they’ve asked for our help and support and I’m here today.”
Addressing the rally later, he added: “Our job is to unite everyone in this campaign for real social justice. It’s called socialism where you don’t leave anyone behind.”
CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “Our members want a substantial pay rise that protects them against the growing cost-of-living crisis, and also rewards them for their efforts as key workers. There’s something very wrong in the way that these companies are being run.”
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: “The actions of the Labour leadership is disgraceful. We will have to deal with that. I think what will happen is that people will see through Labour unless they change their position because it seems to me that Labour want to win an election without any principles or any policies and people won’t accept that.”
He added: “Clearly Labour are in a position now that I think they’ve set out their path. It’s not the same path that we’re going down.”
This comes after strikes among rail workers ground much of the UK to a halt on Wednesday, with further walkouts planned on Saturday and in the coming weeks. Staff from exam board AQA are set for a 72-hour strike starting on Friday (29 July).
Royal Mail workers have also voted for a walkout, though no exact date has been set as yet.
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