Corbyn was elected as the Labour Party leader on September 12, by a wave of grassroots support.
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“Jeremy will need support on the backbenches and I hope I can make a significant impact there”.
“There was a real risk of the republican movement splitting, and some continuing with the armed process”. “It’s ended my career in stand-up, let’s put it that way, and I apologise for it as well”.
The comments were made at a 2003 meeting in London in which McDonnell said: “It’s about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle”.
“Because of the bravery of the IRA and people like Bobby Sands, we now have a peace process”.
Mr McDonnell also used his Question Time appearance to apologise for an “appalling joke” in 2010 about wanting to assassinate Margaret Thatcher. Despite a heavy election defeat in May, Labour remains influential in northern England and Wales and could be key to deciding whether Britons vote to remain inside the bloc.
It also showed almost three in four do not see Mr Corbyn as a Prime Minister in waiting – including those groups he is perceived as championing in the public sector and less affluent social grades.
“It’s an issue for us”, he told Question Time.
“John McDonnell’s attempt to address this issue is welcome and long overdue”, said Mr Dodds.
These organisations might be better speaking up for the business community at every given chance, rather than being seen as putting petty politics ahead of their members’ interests.
Perhaps most damaging, he was attacked as unpatriotic for not singing the national anthem during a service to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
He explained that his perceived past opposition to Europe was due to not wanting to “give David Cameron a blank cheque” – allowing him to renegotiate terms of European Union membership that would negatively affect workers’ rights and environment protection.
New Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has finalised appointments to his frontbench, completing a six-strong shadow energy and climate change team with several influential MPs. “I expressed my respect for the work they do”, he said.
The former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling has urged Jeremy Corbyn to outline his position on the economy in the next few days to try to regain ground after a summer in which the party “chose to blow itself up”.
Interestingly, it turns out this tactic, which has been one small highlight for Corbyn during a very rocky week, was actually Ed Miliband’s idea, according to The Evening Standard.
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Some 36 per cent of people who voted SNP then say they are more likely to vote Labour at the next general election with Mr Corbyn as leader.
