I look like I’ve gone 10 rounds with Ali, says Mcdonnell after falling over fly-tipped waste
JOHN MCDONNELL has suffered a black eye and cuts to his face, which he said were the result of tripping over fly-tipped rubbish in the dark.
The shadow chancellor said he has been working from home since falling in the street and having been left “looking a bit bashed up”.
Mr Mcdonnell said he fell while returning home late on Monday after a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party and initially thought he had broken his nose.
Addressing his facial injuries during a round of media interviews yesterday morning ahead of a pre-budget speech, he said: “I look as if I’ve done about 10 rounds with someone.”
His first media engagement was with the Today programme at 8.10am during which John Humphrys, the BBC Radio 4 presenter, asked him: “I know politics is a rough game, but you’re looking pretty bashed up. Was it that tough, the argument over the Budget speech?”
In response, Mr Mcdonnell laughed, saying: “I do look like I’ve gone a few rounds with Muhammad Ali, don’t I? I came out of the Labour Party meeting on Monday, which was very good. Went home, got off the bus, and I’m rushing home, it was pretty dark, and someone’s fly-tipped at the end of my road. So, I missed it and I literally landed on my face. I thought I’d broken my nose.
“I’ve been working from home the past couple of days, so this is the first time [I’ve been out], so this is an improvement to what it was.
“But some people think it’s an improvement generally.”
As laughter filled the studio, Martha Kearney, Humphrys’s co-presenter on the Today programme, joked: “It’s a good job you got it after the interview, John.”
Mr Mcdonnell replied: “Blame Humphrys for this. He’ll beat me up anyway, won’t he, no matter what.”
Before coming on to Mcdonnell’s pre-budget speech, Humphrys asked his guest if he was genuinely all right.
Still in good spirits having been ribbed for the incident, Mr Mcdonnell said: “Yes, very good.”