ANDY McDONALD resigned from the shadow cabinet last night, saying Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had made his position untenable by ordering him to oppose higher wages and sick pay for workers.

The shadow employment rights secretary quit just hours after championing Labour’s new deal on employment rights at an Institute of Employment Rights fringe, and confirmed he would continue to campaign to see those policies delivered, including its commitment to fair pay agreements to establish sectoral collective bargaining.

He wrote to Sir Keir that he had accepted his brief because “I wanted to fight for the working people of this country. It has become clear that I cannot do this as a member of the shadow cabinet.”