John McDonnell

John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997. A member of the Labour Party, he was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. McDonnell was suspended from the parliamentary whip on 23 July 2024 and sits as an independent.

John McDonnell in 2016

Quotes

2003

• It's about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle. It was the bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands that brought Britain to the negotiating table. The peace we have now is due to the action of the IRA.
  • Comments at a commemoration of the IRA hunger striker, cited in "MP's 'brave IRA' comments spark outrage" The Guardian (30 May 2003).
  • McDonnell apologised for these comments in September 2015 on the BBC's Question Time: "If I gave offence – and I clearly have – from the bottom of my heart I apologise". Sands died in May 1981. While imprisoned for the possession of firearms, Sands was elected to the Westminster parliament as an MP (at the time current or former prisoners sentenced to more than a year in custody could stand as parliamentary candidates in the UK).

2010

• [he would be glad to] go back to the 1980s and assassinate Thatcher.
  • Said at a husting gathering at the GMB union's annual conference during the [[w:2010 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|2010 Labour Party leadership election (UK) cited in "John McDonnell says he would like to 'assassinate' Margaret Thatcher" The Telegraph (7 June 2010)
  • McDonnell withdrew from the campaign on 9 June 2010 because he could not gather sufficient nominations. In his September 2015 appearance on the BBC's Question Time he said: "It was an appalling joke. It's ended my career in standup, let’s put it that way, and I apologise for it as well."

2014

• I was up in Liverpool a fortnight ago where Alec McFadden, one of our organisers, launched the Sack Esther McVey Day, on her birthday. There was a whole group in the audience that completely kicked off quite critical of the whole concept, because they were arguing "Why are we sacking her? Why aren’t we lynching the bastard?"
  • Comments at a comedy night (9 November 2014), as cited in "Labour refuses to sack MP for lynching joke" The Times (14 November 2014)
  • Esther McVey was then the Conservative Minister of State for Employment. In the Commons on 24 March 2015, McDonnell's failure to retract the comment was raised on a point of order: "The substance of the matter is that there is nothing to apologise for, and I hope that on 7 May the electorate will remove the stain of inhumanity."

2015

• I would swim through vomit to vote against this bill. And listening to some of the nauseating speeches in support of it, I might have to.
  • A profile of John McDonnell - new shadow chancellor BBC News (14 September 2015)

2016

• Inevitably in this century we will have open borders. We are seeing it in Europe already. The movement of peoples across the globe will mean that borders are almost going to become irrelevant by the end of this century so we should be preparing for that and explaining why people move.
  • Borderless world inevitable, says Labour's John McDonnell BBC News (31 January 2016)

• It's time to turn this debate around, drive out politics of despair and offer a vision for Britain in Europe.
  • John McDonnell criticises EU vote campaign 'negativity' BBC News (17 May 2016)

• I think people out there in the real world, our constituents, just want us to get on with the job of getting the best deal possible for them
  • EU referendum: Corbyn tells activists 'I did all I could' BBC News (25 June 2016)

• We have to respect the decision that was made in the referendum ... otherwise, to be frank, we undermine all confidence in our democratic process.
  • EU referendum result must be respected, says John McDonnell BBC News (1 July 2016)

• When Britain leaves the European Union, free movement of labour and people will then come to an end
  • EU referendum result must be respected, says John McDonnell BBC News (1 July 2016)

• We should not pretend the referendum result can be undone.
  • John McDonnell says Tories want 'bankers' Brexit' BBC News (27 October 2016)

• This means we must not try to re-fight the referendum or push for a second vote and if Article 50 needs to be triggered in Parliament Labour will not seek to block or delay it.
  • Government is failing UK workers over Brexit - McDonnell BBC News (15 November 2016)

2017

• We will be cut off from our biggest trading partner. We will be cut off from the skills and contribution that EU nationals have made to our economy and society.
  • Labour has 'radical vision' for Brexit, McDonnell claims BBC News (11 March 2017)

• Our objective is tariff-free access to the market
  • John McDonnell not ruling out single market membership BBC News (26 July 2017)

• That has been our objective since immediately after the referendum. The structures - whether we are in or out - are a secondary matter. We are not ruling anything out but what we are saying is that we are the fifth largest economy in the world and we have a special status in both our relationship with the EU and the rest of the globe and we feel we can get a deal that achieves tariff-free access.
  • John McDonnell not ruling out single market membership BBC News (26 July 2017)

• We voted for the implementation of Article 50 because we respect the referendum result. But we cannot have this situation where government becomes unaccountable on the implementation of one of the most important decisions for a generation.
  • Brexit: Theresa May wants to intensify pace of talks BBC News (4 September 2017)

• There are enough sensible people in the House of Commons to say 'this cannot happen, we cannot damage our country in this way'.
  • MPs can stop no-deal Brexit, says Labour's McDonnell BBC News (15 October 2017)

2018

• If the government says 'well a customs union for a couple of years or maybe customs union until we decide there won't be one,' well actually, that doesn't give the stability for investment for anyone
  • McDonnell: We'll vote against temporary customs union BBC News (5 November 2018)

• My fear is that if we did have another referendum, we might get the same or similar result and the country will still be divided. Somehow we have got to try and bring the country back together again.
  • Labour could form minority government without election - McDonnell BBC News (21 November 2018)

2019

• Therefore now in the national interest we have got to come together and secure a compromise. If we can't do that, well yes, we have to go back to the people.
  • Brexit: Labour plan can get majority, says John McDonnell BBC News (8 February 2019)

• The values of Catholicism are the inherent values of the Labour Party and the inherent values of socialism...
  • [1] The Tablet (21 February 2019)

• My view is that you'd put the deal to the people, but you'd have to also have the option of the status quo. Deep in my heart, I'm still a Remainer, but I've got to try and bring together effectively what is a British compromise.
  • Brexit: PM and Corbyn holding meeting over cross-party talks BBC News (14 May 2019)

• I think he's reckless and I think he's unstable and I will move heaven and Earth to stop a no-deal Brexit.
  • Referring to Boris Johnson. Labour government 'would not block' indyref2 BBC News (6 August 2019)

• We can't say to people 'Labour wants you to share in the running of your workplace, your community and your environment, but we don't trust you to have the final say over Brexit.'
  • Labour Party conference: McDonnell promises 32-hour working week BBC News (23 September 2019)

• I'd like them to vote Remain, but that's part of the debate we've got to have
  • John McDonnell: 'Under Labour 16-year-olds could get a vote on Brexit’ BBC News (24 September 2019)

About McDonnell

• John McDonnell, the nearest to a hero in both books. McDonnell worked tirelessly and pragmatically. He wanted to win, knowing that unity and a semblance of coherence were fundamental preconditions for victory. He kept up a dialogue with the so-called moderates and spoke out publicly on both anti-Semitism and the Salisbury poisonings, to the point where he and Corbyn did not talk for several months.
  • Steve Richards "The Accidental Leader", Literary Review (490, October 2020)
  • From a review of Gabriel Pogrund & Patrick Maguire's Left Out: The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn (The Bodley Head) and Owen Jones' This Land: The Story of a Movement (Allen Lane)