Scottish Labour leader defies Keir Starmer to stand on picket line

21 June 2022, 16:16

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has defied a plea by Sir Keir Starmer for senior Labour politicians not to join railway workers' picket lines, by standing with striking RMT workers at Edinburgh's Waverley Station.

Sarwar, and his frontbench transport spokesman Neil Bibby, joined strikers and condemned the UK government for the strike action.

He tweeted: "Solidarity with those on the picket lines. This is a crisis entirely of the Government’s making. The workers don’t want strikes. The unions don’t want strikes. The public don’t want strikes. They demand better."

However in a memo leaked to PoliticsHome yesterday, Starmer’s office said Labour must “show leadership”, which meant “frontbenchers including PPSs should not be on picket lines”.

It is thought at least three UK party junior frontbenchers also defied the instruction with Kate Osborne and Paula Barker, both parliamentary private secretaries to shadow ministers, and Labour whip Navendu Mishra tweeting that they had shown solidarity with striking workers.

It is the first public division between Sarwar and Starmer on policy since the former was elected as leader of the Scottish party.

However a Scottish Labour source said: "There's no split over this. Anas is his own man and it's important for him to stand with Scottish workers who have legitimate grievances when faced with a Tory government which has done nothing to resolve this dispute."

Scotland's rail system has almost ground to a halt with just 180 train journeys taking place on strike days, in comparison to more than 2000 on normal working days.

Scottish commuters had already been coping with a reduced rail timetable after the dispute between the newly nationalised Scotrail and train drivers' union Aslef.

Scottish Labour's transport spokesman Neil Bibby told LBC: "Nobody wants these strikes, not the unions, not the workers, not the travelling public - but they have gone ahead because of Tory incompetence and misrule.

"I've met with rail workers to listen to their concerns and it's disgraceful that Tory transport secretary Grant Schapps hasn't met the union once to avoid this dispute.

"It's ridiculous the Tory government is trying to blame everyone else for these strikes when they have failed to do their job.

"There's a cost of living crisis going on and the Tory government is failing to help people up and down this country, it's no wonder the unions are taking action to get a fair pay deal for their members.

"They're also concerned about potential job cuts which could have an adverse impact on the rail network. The Tories need to take responsibility, show some leadership, address the concerns of the workforce and bring this dispute to an end through meaningful talks."

Former Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard was also on the picket lines at Glasgow's Central Station.

In a less-than-veiled criticism of Starmer's stance, he said: "To me it's a basic principle. If working people vote to take industrial action, you don't debate whether you support them or not. You get right in behind tem and right in behind their union."

He said the RMT's demands were "modest" and added: "They simply want a no compulsory redundancy agreement, they want an inflation based pay rise, and they want to stop any imposition of changes to their terms and conditions. I'm proud to stand with them."

And Labour Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney said the strike showed the "power of labour organisation" which "is a good thing and perhaps other sectors can learn from it."

He added: 'They've been pushed and provoked to the brink. The UK government has been hostile and almost invited this to have a fight. They want to split the workers of this country ahead of the next General Election."

Asked why he thought Keir Starmer didn't want Labour politicians on the picket lines he said he didn't know.

"It's up to the individual judgement of leaders, and up to democratically elected politicians to make their decision and it's good to see Anas has shown an example today."

"I've not had an opportunity but the first I get I will be at Central Station to meet with the RMT. We believe in the fundamental right of trade unions to take industrial action in the law."

Meanwhile Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson described the RMT as “militant” and said the union needed to get back around the negotiating table.

He said: “What the RMT has to do is stop being so militant, and get back around the table and get the country moving again."

Asked why he called for Scottish Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth to get involved in the dispute between Aslef and ScotRail, but not her UK counterpart, Grant Shapps he said: “It’s different because it’s not just Network Rail... there are 13 train companies involved. So it’s very, very complicated.”

A UK Labour spokesperson said: “Unlike the government, our focus is firmly on the public. The Tories are in charge, and they failed to fix it. The responsibility for this week’s chaos lies firmly with them.”