Sacked minister demands explanation from Starmer

A Labour minister has publicly criticised Sir Keir Starmer after he received “no explanation” about why he was sacked from his cabinet role earlier this year - adding his wife was “furious” about the decision.

- DAVID MADDOX

Culture minister Ian Murray has broken ranks and lashed out at Sir Keir’s decision to replace him as Scottish secretary, a move which many in the Scottish Labour Party remain unhappy about.

Mr Murray was the first to be sacked in September’s reshuffle, caused by the resignation of former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner over her failure to pay £40,000 of stamp duty on her new flat in Brighton.

He was only appointed to a senior role in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport after a backlash when he was replaced by the current Scottish secretary, Douglas Alexander.

But in an interview with Holyrood magazine, Mr Murray has made it clear he is still bitter about the experience. He said he has still been given “no explanation” about why he was sacked, despite “asking on a number of occasions”.

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.

“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.”