Inside Politics: Discipline

Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

Football fans hoping for a day off should England’s lionesses win the Euro final are disappointed this morning after the government ruled out an additional bank holiday to celebrate. And the slight break in hostilities between Tory leadership rivals Rishi Sunak and Lizz Truss could come to an end tonight as they take part in the first of 12 hustings in Yorkshire. Meanwhile, Sam Tarry has been shown a red card for defying party orders as Labour becomes embroiled in a row over its position on the rail strikes.

Parliament is not sitting.

Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary and Truss supporter, is on ITV GMB at 8.30am.

Sunak supporter Victoria Atkins is on Times Radio at 8.40am.

Sam Tarry, a shadow transport minister, has been sacked from Labour’s frontbench after defying orders not to attend picket lines during yesterday rail strikes. Tarry, who is in a reselection battle to hang on to his Ilford South seat in the capital, offered himself up for several broadcast interviews while supporting striking workers at London’s Euston station.

During the interviews Tarry, who helped run Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign, gave his views on issues such as pay, conditions and inflation which were not official Labour policy. It was for this reason – rather than the physical act of appearing on the picket line – that he was sacked, Labour insists. Tarry says he was simply showing solidarity with workers.

Other junior, lower profile junior ministers have been disciplined for attending picket lines during previous rounds of strikes, giving that position at least some credibility. “Any breach of collective responsibility is taken extremely seriously and for these reasons Sam Tarry has been removed” from his position, a Labour spokesperson said.

The move by Keir Starmer has sparked a furious backlash among unions, including Unite – Labour’s biggest backer with more than a million members – whose leader, Sharon Graham, said the party was “becoming more and more irrelevant to ordinary working people”. She has previously accused Starmer of “failing” workers and warned that there will be no “blank cheques” for the party, although there is no threat to remove funding at the moment. Unions are also threatening a general strike over ‘Victorian’ Tory plans to curb industrial action.

Starmer probably felt that he had no choice but to reassert his authority and sack Tarry after being defied twice during the dispute. According to a report in this morning’s Guardian, senior shadow ministers are now privately expressing doubt about the party’s position on the strikes, saying that it is not sustainable.

The story risks bringing tensions within the party to the surface at a time when it is trying to be seen as a “government-in-waiting”. For weeks Labour has been sitting back with the popcorn, watching the Tories tear themselves apart over Boris Johnson’s successor. With no end in sight to the rail dispute, that period of relative calm could now be coming to an abrupt end.

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The debate in the Tory leadership battle has now moved on to sexual harassment, with the two rivals last night setting out what they would do to tackle the issue if they win the contest and the keys to No 10 Downing Street.

Sunak proposed a new “down-blousing” offence while Truss offered a law against misogynistic street harassment as the Tory leadership contenders unveiled plans to crack down on violence against women and girls.

Ahead of this evening’s hustings in Yorkshire, Team Truss has landed a front-page story in the Northern Agenda with a pledge to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail in full if she wins the race.

See all of The Independent’s daily cartoons here

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A Labour spokesperson says Tarry wasn’t sacked for joining picket line.

“This isn’t about appearing on a picket line. Members of the front bench sign up to collective responsibility. That includes media appearances being approved and speaking to agreed frontbench positions. As a government in waiting, any breach of collective responsibility is taken extremely seriously and for these reasons Sam Tarry has been removed from the front bench.”

Pippa Crerar, Daily Mirror politics editor, hears Boris Johnson is offering honours in return for a safer seat.

“In explosive claim, one source says Team Boris is willing to “dangle honours” in front of Tory loyalists & MPs thinking about retiring to facilitate his “chicken run” to safer seat. No 10 denies PM has had “any such conversations” & insists he’s “proud” to represent Uxbridge.”

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