'I've had it up to here with this Labour government!' Marr on rail strikes 'blame game'

21 June 2022, 18:08 | Updated: 22 June 2022, 09:20

Andrew Marr mocks Tory MPs blaming Keir Starmer for rail strikes

Andrew Marr has joked that he's had it with the Labour government after Conservatives blamed Sir Keir Starmer's party for the rail strikes.

He spoke as rail strikes brought the majority of Britain's train network grinding to a halt, disrupting commuters in a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Opening Tuesday's Tonight with Andrew Marr episode, on LBC, he said: "I feel like playing a game this evening. Let's play the blame game. Who is really responsible, deep down, for these strikes?

"I turn as ever, because I'm a trusting fellow, to get the official view. So, are Boris Johnson's ministers blaming the strikers? Oddly, hardly at all.

"Well, perhaps this is because the rail union is asking for a pay increase well below inflation, on a day when the government says it wants to raise the cap on bonuses for the richest City bankers; and indeed, on the day after the night before, when Tory donors paid many thousands of pounds a head to attend a glamorous fundraiser, where the night's main prize was dinner with Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron, bought for £120,000.

"Arsenic martinis and plastic cutlery only, I guess. Anyway, for whatever reason, there has been very little from the Government about the greedy railway workers.

"Obviously, although they are in charge of the rail system, they weren't blaming themselves. No, the strike is the fault of Labour, it is Labour's strike.

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"Tory MP Chris Clarkson has been taqging stories about rail misery with the line "cheers Keir".

"His colleague Mark Jenkinson said the strikes were a vision of Labour's Britain. Well, frankly, I have to say I agree. I've had it up to here with this Labour government.

"Keir Starmer in Number 10 has been a thorough disappointment. What's he done there? Absolutely nothing. No parties. No job offers for his secret girlfriend Fifi Hot-Cakes Trixibelle.

"No leaning on editors to pull stories from the newspapers. It's a disgrace I tell you. An utter disgrace.

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"I've tried to get an explanation from Starmer but instead of publicly defending himself, he's gone into hiding.

"Perhaps it's because so many of his colleagues, after getting his letter telling them not to go on picket lines, have indeed gone on picket lines.

"Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has been seen near a bull horn.

"Angela Rayner's been found charging round with a bullwhip. But Keir? They seek him there, they seek him here. No Keir. Perhaps he's hiding in a fridge. Perhaps he's borrowed Boris Johnson fridge."