Shadow chancellor whose aim is to replace capitalism
WE ARE approaching the first anniversary of last year’s disastrous general election. Disastrous, of course, for many reasons – not the least of which was that it put Labour within spitting distance of power.
In normal circumstances it’s healthy for democracy that the pendulum swings between parties. In normal circumstances the two main parties which operate within the political mainstream vie for power and we focus on the next election if our choice of government loses. That is how British democracy has worked and survived.
But we no longer live in normal circumstances. In September 2015 the Labour leadership was won by Jeremy Corbyn whose entire career had been spent on the hard-Left fringes of politics. Since then the hard-Left has taken near total control of Labour – and, crucially, of the shadow cabinet, national executive and policy making apparatus.
It’s understandable that most of the attention is focused on Corbyn. But appalling as his record is, many of his colleagues have even more frightening views – and the determination to force them through as part of a programme of revolutionary change.
THAT does not just mean extreme hard-Left policies. It also means a revolution in which Parliamentary democracy is replaced by mob rule and the very basis of our freedom – that we can, through peaceful voting, change the government – is supplanted by fraudulent so-called elections that offer spurious legitimacy to the revolutionaries.
None of this is my assertion. It is all there in the open in speeches and documents from those now leading the Labour Party. In this regard there are few more sinister figures than John McDonnell.
On Sunday the shadow chancellor gave an interview to the BBC. His comment that he would “replace capitalism” has caused a stir. But McDonnell has been espousing violent revolution for decades and his words were nothing even remotely new.
That his true views are only now getting proper scrutiny shows how he has, in effect, hidden them in plain sight since his fellow revolutionary socialists took over the Labour Party in 2015. On Sunday McDonnell was asked if he wanted to overthrow capitalism. “Yes,” he said. His aim is “transforming our economy”.
He added: “Because I think at the end of the day I want a socialist society. And that means transforming in a way which radically challenges the system as it now is.”
If you want a clue as to where this will lead us have a look at one of McDonnell’s heroes, Nicolás Maduro. The President of Venezuela was “re-elected” this weekend for a further six years although the election was as fraudulent as those which “re-elect” Vladimir Putin. McDonnell attempted to dismiss any lessons from Venezuela, where the economy has collapsed and most of the population is starving despite having the greatest oil reserves on Earth.
Political opponents of the regime are imprisoned and killed. The shadow chancellor said on Sunday that Venezuela’s fate provided no warning as “I don’t think it was a socialist country.”
That is a change of tune to put it mildly. In a documentary made in 2014 McDonnell hailed Venezuela for showing “the contrast between capitalism in crisis [in other countries] and socialism in action [in Venezuela].” By socialism in action, he presumably also meant violence in the streets.
In 2010 McDonnell described rioting students as “the best of our movement”. In 2011 he attacked a jail sentence given to a student who had thrown a fire extinguisher from a roof during those riots, almost hitting a police officer: “Actually he’s not the criminal. We have got to encourage direct action in any form it can possibly take.”
This is consistent with his core beliefs – that “action” on the streets is more legitimate than parliamentary democracy. As he puts it: “You can’t change the world through the parliamentary system.”
None of this is hidden. It is all there in the open like his 2006 comment that his membership of the Labour Party has only ever been “a tactic” to advance his ideology of revolutionary socialism.
AND it’s there in the foreword he wrote for a 2011 pamphlet from the Trotskyite group, Permanent Revolution, supporting the “timely” proposals and “range of resistance” outlined inside. The proposals included calls for a “militant movement” to carry out a “revolution” and overthrow the government. The document McDonnell so warmly welcomed also included a proposal for the working class to be “armed” and to replace the army and police.
It’s not just street violence that he favours. It’s also terrorism. In 2003 he told a meeting held to honour IRA hunger strikers that: “It’s about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle. It was the bombs and bullets... that brought Britain to the negotiating table.”
All these comments were made, of course, when McDonnell was an obscure backbencher. But everything changed with Corbyn’s election as Labour leader. McDonnell is many things but he is no fool and he swiftly moved to try to disown his own words, saying that he apologised “from the bottom of my heart” for suggesting the IRA should be honoured.
And if you believe that you will believe anything. Labour’s John McDonnell, like all true zealots, is as cynical as he is malign. We have all been warned.
‘A programme of revolutionary change’