John McTernan: Screams of pain from Labour Left are exactly what Keir Starmer wants

John McTernan, Tony Blair’s former Political Secretary, has said Keir Starmer has shown “real strength” in sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey from the Labour front bench. The Labour leader asked Ms Long-Bailey to step down as shadow education secretary after she shared an article “containing an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory”. Speaking to talkRADIO’s Mike Graham, Mr McTernan said: “He’s got to trust his front bench and their judgement, he clearly can’t trust Rebecca Long-Bailey.” He added that the move highlighted Mr Starmer’s intention to take Labour toward centre-ground politics. “The screams of pain from the Left of the party are exactly what he would want.”