Sam Tarry was sacked for making up policy “on the hoof,” Keir Starmer has said as he seeks to restore order within the Labour Party.
Ilford South MP Mr Tarry was dismissed as shadow minister for buses and local transport on Wednesday having joined a picket line with RMT union members.
It was suggested Labour leader Sir Keir sacked him for defying party whips by joining with protestors outside Euston station.
However, Sir Keir said it was actually comments made by Mr Tarry on Good Morning Britain and other news broadcasts that gave him the boot.
Mr Tarry said workers should be offered pay rises in line with inflation - however Labour’s position is that pay negotiations are for unions and ministers.
Sir Keir said on a visit to Birmingham: “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.”
Unions have been holding strikes all summer to call for a greater pay rise and job security for rail workers. While Labour has called on the Conservative government to boost their provisions to staff, the party has discouraged MPs - especially shadow cabinet members - from joining picket lines.
Grandee members of Labour, including former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and ex deputy prime minister John Prescott, have criticised Sir Keir’s actions with the party having traditional ties to unions.
Sir Keir added: “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."
