Labour’s new Trident storm as McDonnell vows: I’d never use it
JOHN McDonnell was accused of undermining Britain’s nuclear deterrent last night after declaring he would never fire the weapons if he became prime minister.
In a wide-ranging interview, the Shadow Chancellor defended his historic support for the IRA and reaffirmed that his favourite book was Das Kapital.
He also said he would be prepared for a run on the pound in the event of a Labour victory – and claimed he could not name a single Conservative MP he liked.
The comments on nuclear weapons risk reopening the bitter split in the Labour Party over support for the Trident nuclear deterrent.
Mr McDonnell is seen as a possible successor to Jeremy Corbyn if he decides to step down as party leader. Mr Corbyn is a life-long supporter of unilateral disarmament, and is still vice-president of CND.
Although the Labour leader has already said he would never use Trident if he enters Downing Street, the party’s official policy is to support renewal of the weapons system.
Critics point out that the principle of the deterrent is completely undermined if hostile states such as Russia believe it would not be deployed. In the interview with New Statesman, Mr McDonnell named Clement Attlee as his political hero, calling him a ‘determined socialist’ who created a ‘transformation of society... in a way that held the party together’.
But he said Mr Attlee blundered by ordering the development of Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent, saying: ‘No one’s perfect. I disagree with him on the bomb itself.’
Mr McDonnell said Tony Benn was his favourite Labour MP, but asked who his favourite Tory politician was, he replied: ‘None’, adding: ‘I honestly don’t like their politics, though I have worked with Justine Greening and Zac Goldsmith against the third runway at Heathrow.’
Mr McDonnell said he and Mr Corbyn – both pensioners – were like ‘two old geezers from Last of the Summer Wine touring the country’. And asked what is his favourite book, he backed Karl Marx’s Communist tract.
‘It has to be Das Kapital,’ he said. ‘Francis Wheen’s description of Kapital is brilliant. It is not just a piece of economics, it’s a work of literature as well.’
He also defended his historic support for the IRA, saying : ‘Everything I did around Ireland was to try to bring about peace.’
Last night Tory chairman Brandon Lewis said: ‘The whole point of a deterrent is that our enemies need to know that we would be prepared to use it.
‘ That both Corbyn and McDonnell say they would not use it as a last resort shows Labour cannot be trusted with the defence of our nation and aren’t fit for government.
He added: ‘The Shadow Chancellor confirming Labour are preparing for a run on the pound shows Labour can’t be trusted to handle the economy either.’