John McDonnell's speech Review

John McDonnell's speech

John McDonnell started off his speech by mentioning Labour’s success in the past year. He also talked about how revolutionary it was for the UK when Labour got into government after World War Two. He provided an anecdote about how his parents worked hard to rebuild the UK after the destruction caused by World War Two and that they did this because they were inspired by the election of a Labour government. He mentioned how Labour delivered for these people by establishing the welfare state and in particular he mentioned the NHS which he called “our crown jewel”. After this he heavily praised Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s New Labour governments as he stated that they provided the necessary investment that our country needed after 18 years of Thatcher’s New Right government. His comments on Blair showed that the Old Labour faction and the New Labour faction have for the most part reached some sort of consensus since Corbyn’s unexpected success in the elections.

After his he discussed the myriad of issues which the UK now faces. Firstly, he talked about how the Tories due to austerity have caused stagnating wages, an economy of zero hour contracts and a poorly funded welfare state which is collapsing under pressure. He continued on by saying that the current evolution of the economy into a highly specialised economy comprised mostly of specialist technology-related jobs offers opportunities but that there is also the threat of exploitation. He stated that this revolution of sorts is being used by the Tories to enrich a select few people who are the leaders of commerce and business whilst the average worker is being exploited.

Later on he mentioned how Labour was going to invest massively into public transport in the UK. He primarily spoke on how Labour was going to vastly expand and improve the railways systems all across the UK. He said Labour would build a cross-rail system for the North of England which would connect the Northwest with the Northeast, he said Labour would expand the planned High-Speed Two (HS2) railway into Scotland, he said Labour would more funding for Midlands Connect to improve transport in the Midlands, and he said Labour would increase investment on railways in the UK overall. Also he said that Labour would fix the problem of the Tories’ neglect and lack of investment towards the South-West’s railways by electrifying the railway lines from Cornwall to London.

When it came to Labour’s stance on industries, McDonnell in his speech clearly and unequivocally stated that Labour would renationalise the railways, water, energy and the Royal Mail. McDonnell’s mentioning of Labour being committed to renationalising those industries reaffirms Labour’s position on renationalisation which they put forward in their manifesto earlier this year.

John McDonnell’s position as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer means he is in the Labour Party’s top echelon. In fact essentially, he is Jeremy Corbyn’s right hand man as the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the second most powerful position in government and on top of this he is very good friends with Corbyn personally. This means what he has to say is of immense importance in the event Labour wins the next election as he can influence Corbyn.