British socialist puts Davos elite on notice
Current capitalist system is living on borrowed time, John McDonnell says
John McDonnell, a proud socialist who wants to run Britain’s economy and tear up the rules of capitalism, isn’t the kind of guy you expect to find rubbing shoulders with the global elite at a Swiss ski resort.
But at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, that is exactly what he’ll be doing: telling bankers, investors and chief executives that the current capitalist system is living on borrowed time.
“It’s a bit like being Daniel in the lion’s den, but someone has to come here and just give them a bit of a shake,” McDonnell, who cites Karl Marx among his key economic influences, said in Davos.
Grey-haired and soft-spoken, belying decades of experience rallying crowds for Britain’s hitherto fringe hard-left movement, McDonnell said people in Britain and other countries couldn’t relate to the economic optimism expressed in Davos.
“When they are told wealth is being restored, the economy is growing, and they do not share in that growth ... that’s when people get alienated. People need to wake up and listen to that,” he said. McDonnell, 66, has been at the vanguard of a left-wing revival within Britain’s opposition Labour Party. He has promised sweeping nationalisation, higher public spending and an overhaul of the banking system.
Led by his fellow veteran leftist Jeremy Corbyn, Labour captured the imagination of young voters at last year’s election, depriving centre-right Prime Minister Theresa May of an outright victory and weakening her position as she negotiates Britain’s exit from the European Union. Although no election is due until 2022, investors, already looking askance at Britain because of Brexit, are asking: Will May’s government collapse? Will Labour win power? And what would that mean for the British economy? “What we’re looking for, so people are clear, is to transform our society. We want a society that’s radically more equal, radically fairer, radically more democratic,” McDonnell said. The man who would be Corbyn’s finance minister said he had been approached by energy firms and tech companies keen to meet him at Davos and had already spoken to other corporate leaders.
Last year, Morgan Stanley cautioned investors that the risk of Corbyn winning power and dismantling what was once seen as one of the world’s most stable free-market economies was a bigger political risk in Britain than Brexit.
But McDonnell said the message is simple for anyone who has concerns: “Pay your workers a decent wage, make sure they share in the profits, make sure they have a say in the company, make sure you pay your taxes and at the same time, make sure you’re investing for the longterm future.”