The new left-wing leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party will promise in a speech on Tuesday to make decisions by nationwide consultation – an approach critics say could cause confusion about party policy and deepen internal divisions.
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“When we challenge their austerity programme, the Conservatives accuse us of being deficit deniers”.
Mr McDonnell failed to remind delegates that, in the words of Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, “rental property is taxed more heavily than owner occupied property”.
The Chancellor’s trump card was always that his “opponents” in the New Labour economics team swallowed the fallacy that Labour in office had overspent on the public sector and that cuts in public expenditure were essential to recovery, even though they might nitpick about how deep those cuts should be.
Corbyn’s election campaign began as a modest desire to widen debate as his three “electable” opponents struggled to find something tangible to disagree over.
She said: “I expect that his speech today will be one laden with values – his values, the Labour values and actually the values of the British people as well”.
“The balls have been all thrown up in the air in the Labour Party by Jeremy’s victory, and I’m pleased to play my part in trying to bring those balls back into play and set out our stall ahead of the next general election”.
But aides dismissed suggestions that the new leader’s comments were meant to counter accusations he lacked patriotism.
But a Unite spokeswoman said: “As we have made consistently and regularly clear, Unite does not and will not support any moves to target MPs”.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has hit out as George Osborne as he called for an end to the era of austerity.
British governments have championed free markets since Conservative Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979, building what foreign investors say is one of the world’s most open economies. “We are going to put these values back into politics”.
“They would weaken our defences, and damage our economy by borrowing more, putting up taxes and driving up the cost of living by printing money”. Compare the relative success of the US Federal Reserve, which has latitude to attend to such things, with the dismal performance of a European Central Bank fixated more narrowly on price stability, and the case for change is plain. The conference voted Sunday not to have a debate on renewing Britain’s nuclear weapons, a step opposed by Corbyn but supported by many members of Parliament.
“So”, he is due to say, “I want our policy review to tackle this in a serious way; consider opening up statutory maternity and paternity pay to the self-employed so all new-born children get the same level of care from their parents”.
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“That’s a hope. “I would want to keep the top rate at 50%, 50p, I have no plans to raise it beyond that and neither has John”.
