A serving minister has launched a devastating public attack on Keir Starmer‘s management skills and judgment.
Ian Murray complained he still does not know why the PM demoted him out of the Cabinet in a chaotic reshuffle in September.
In highly unusual open dissent among government ranks, the Edinburgh MP said he has still received ‘no explanation’ from Sir Keir why he was axed as Scottish Secretary.
He also revealed he considered walking away altogether rather than taking the more junior job he was offered – admitting his wife was ‘f***ing furious’ with the premier.
The intervention, in an interview with Holyrood magazine, underlines Sir Keir’s fraying grip on Labour discipline.
A sense of crisis has been fuelled by apocalyptic polls, with signs that potential rivals are gearing up for a challenge.
Ian Murray complained he still does not know why the PM demoted him out of the Cabinet in a chaotic reshuffle in September
In highly unusual open dissent among government ranks, the Edinburgh MP said he has still received ‘no explanation’ from Keir Starmer (pictured) why he was axed as Scottish Secretary
Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner are all widely seen as ‘on manoeuvres’, with local elections in May increasingly seen as a crucial moment in whether Sir Keir can survive.
Mr Murray is a popular figure in the Parliamentary Party, and there was surprise when he was punished in the reshuffle.
He said he has been given ‘no explanation’ at the time of why Blair era veteran Douglas Alexander was handed his old job – despite asking on a number of occasions.
He also said his removal was a ‘public humiliation’ and that his wife, Mariam, was ‘absolutely f****** furious’.
The backlash in Scottish Labour was seen as the reason why Mr Murray was handed a new role 24 hours later as a junior minister jointly in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science.
Mr Murray said: ‘For me, the hardest part was the complete lack of any sort of recognition for doing a half decent job. That’s the hardest bit.
‘The second hardest bit is having no explanation of why I was sacked, and as we sit here today I still don’t have that despite me asking on a number of occasions.
‘And the third bit is that I didn’t think I deserved the public humiliation of it all. I genuinely don’t know why it happened and that feels like an unfair gap.’
He also said that this caused some hesitation when he was offered the dual minister role – and it took him five hours to accept the new position.
Mr Murray said: ‘My big questions about coming back into government were, why was it not offered to me at the time – and it wasn’t – why has the decision now been made and why? If I’m not good enough for the Scotland Office, why am I now number two in two major UK departments?’
Referring to the response from his wife to his removal from the Scottish Secretary, he said: ‘It’s fair to say that Mariam was absolutely f****** furious.
Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting (pictured) and Angela Rayner are all widely seen as ‘on manoeuvres’, with local elections in May increasingly seen as a crucial moment in whether Sir Keir can survive
‘She thought I was massively underappreciated, because she’s seen it from her side about how much I was balancing family life, parliament, being one of the new 37 Scottish MPs, being in government, the travelling up and down, not just in the constituency, but also around Scotland, and all the rest of it. But she was most angry about the fact that the prime minister didn’t have an explanation.’
Mr Murray said he is now enjoying his new ‘meaty policy portfolio’ and that the experience had taught him to ‘shout about’ his successes more – which he said is a lesson Labour ought to take ahead of next year’s Holyrood election.
He said: ‘It is up to us as a party to shout about our achievements because no one else will do it for us.’
