It’s my job to overthrow capitalism, says Mcdonnell

JOHN MCDONNELL has said he wants to “overthrow capitalism” from his position on Labour’s front bench.

The shadow chancellor also said he believed that Venezuela’s economic problems were the result of it no longer being a socialist country. Mr Mcdonnell, who lists in his Who’s Who entry one of his hobbies as “generally fermenting the overthrow of capitalism”, was asked on the BBC’S Sunday Politics if it were “now your job, the overthrow of capitalism”.

“Yes, it is,” he replied. “It’s transforming our economy.”

When challenged by presented Sarah Smith whether there was “a difference between transforming the economy and overthrowing capitalism”, Mr Mcdonnell replied: “I don’t think [there] is. 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.

“And I think that’s what we’re doing. And what’s interesting, we’re taking people with us, because people see that there has to be that transformation.”

Mr Mcdonnell has held up the example of Venezuela under the leadership of the late president Hugo Chávez as showing how socialist policies can succeed. Challenged over whether the hyperinflation and shortages of medicine and food in Venezuela were “an example of a failed socialist economic model”, Mr Mcdonnell replied: “It went wrong.

“No, I don’t think it was a socialist country. I think it took a wrong turn when Chávez went. And I think unfortunately since then I don’t think they’ve been following the socialist policies that Chávez was developing.

“And as a result of that, they’re experiencing the current problems.”