ONE of Scotland’s most senior trade unionists has quit Labour following the party's decision to sack transport minister Sam Tarry after he joined a picket line of striking rail workers.

Kevin Lindsay, ASLEF's Scottish Organiser, said that Sir Keir Starmer was more interested in trying to “woo Tory voters in the shires of England than representing working people.”

He said without a change in leadership, the UK would have “several years” of Liz Truss as Prime Minister.

He also called on his union, which represents train drivers, to disaffiliate from Labour. 

The press release announcing his resignation did praise Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who previously defied Sir Keir to stand alongside rail workers when they went on strike last month.

Yesterday, Mr Tarry joined members of the RMT on the picket line outside Euston station in London and gave a number of interviews to broadcast media.

The party denied he had been sacked for joining the strike but because he appeared on TV without permission and did not speak to an "agreed frontbench position."

READ MORE: Trade union fury as Labour sack shadow transport minister in picket line row

During an interview with Sky News - in which he also mistakenly referred to himself as the shadow secretary of state for transport - Mr Tarry claimed it was “not acceptable to offer below inflation pay rises.”

Asked about the decision during a visit to Birmingham, Sir Keir said: "Sam Tarry was sacked because he booked himself onto media programmes without permission, and then made up policy on the hoof, and that can’t be tolerated in any organisation because we’ve got collective responsibility.

"So that was relatively straightforward.

"Of course, as far as the industrial action is concerned, I completely understand the frustration of so many working people who’ve seen the prices go up, seen inflation through the roof, and their wages haven’t gone up.

"So the Labour party will always be on the side of working people, but we need collective responsibility, as any organisation does."

Mr Lindsay said the party had lost its way. He said: “The Labour party was and is meant to be the political wing of the trade union movement but now it’s more interested in trying to woo Tory voters in the shires of England than representing working people.

“As a democrat, I respect that Keir Starmer has been elected the leader but I truly believe his performance and policies are making it impossible for the Labour party to return to power and that he should be removed from his position immediately. 

“There needs to be a change in leadership and political direction but I sadly can’t see this happening and we will end up with PM Truss for several years.

“Therefore I have made the decision not only to resign from the Labour party but now also support the proposal for ASLEF to disaffiliate from the party.”

At their most recent conference in May, a motion to cut historic and financial ties with Labour was overwhelmingly rejected. However, that was before the rail strike and before Sir Keir urged his frontbench not join picket lines.

Yesterday, Sharon Graham, the General Secretary of the Unite union, described the sacking as “another insult to the trade union movement.”

She added: “At a time when people are facing a cost of living crisis and on the day when the Conservative government has launched a new wave of attacks on the rights of working people, the Labour party has opted to continue to indulge in old factional wars.”

Ms Graham continued: “Labour is becoming more and more irrelevant to ordinary working people who are suffering. Juvenile attacks on trade unionists will do absolutely nothing to further Labour’s prospects for power."

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the TSSA, said: “We expect attacks from the Tories; we don’t expect attacks from our own party.

"As a Labour-affiliated union, our union is ashamed of the actions of the Labour Party leadership and the anti-worker, anti-union message it is sending out.”

Gary Smith, general secretary of the GMB union, tweeted: “It’s a huge own goal for @UKLabour to turn a Tory transport crisis into a Labour story.”

Mr Tarry's sacking was also criticised by many in the party.

Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, said he was worried that the decision could lead people to think Labour was not on the side of workers.

He told GB News: "Labour needs to be careful here. We can’t ever be a party that undermines working people fighting to protect their incomes and a cost of living crisis.

"If we’re not careful, that’s how we might come over. There’s a real issue out there now for people in terms of wages and energy bills that keep rising.

"People are going to have to fight to protect their incomes and Labour should be supporting people to protect their incomes."