Last night PoliticsHome reported that Starmer has made the minimum effort to nudge himself off the fence over the rail strikes, with a leaked memo from LOTO revealing all Labour frontbenchers, including PPSs, are banned from picket lines this week:
“…However, we also 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.”
Yet just this morning, Shadow Northern Ireland PPS Kate Osborne tweeted this… on the picket line at Bromley South:
On the picket line at Bromley.
— Kate Osborne MP (@KateOsborneMP) June 21, 2022
I'm a trade unionist, I will always stand on the side of the workers.
Solidarity @rmtunion#TubeStrike #railstrike pic.twitter.com/xu6JGunJod
Only a few hours into the strikes and Labour’s party discipline has already gone off the rails…
UPDATE: Now another PPS, the MoD-shadowing Paula Barker, is also on the picket line
While Guido doesn’t know the whereabouts of Louise Haigh, the Shadow Transport Secretary’s constituency Labour Party is also out picketing
Now that’s a bad look…
