John McDonnell

“Heathrow is in my constituency and I have been at both the Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 planning inquiries. At these inquiries my community has been assured by the inquiry inspectors, BAA and g...”

“Our objectives are socialist. That means an irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people.”

“I do not want to be associated with those that are willing to support undermining the basic human rights that socialists have fought and sacrificed themselves to secure and protect over gene...”

“Ministers may not be responsible for administrative errors, but they are responsible for major policy blunders.”

“The decision over Heathrow expansion exemplifies the style of policy-making that starts with capitulation to a powerful self-interested lobby, blatantly fixes a public consultation and then...”

“Parties don't lose overnight, there is a gradual erosion of their base and electoral machine, which leads to sometimes cataclysmic defeat.”

“I am categorically opposed to any fees for education - and I have voted and campaigned against their introduction at every stage.”

“New Labour has deregulated, liberalised and privatised - but every time the private sector fails it is the taxpayer who pays.”

“To be effective in tackling poverty wages, a living wage has to be mandatory and basic trade union rights should be restored so workers can protect themselves from exploitative employers.”

“I sneaked into an Everton match once. I'm a Liverpool supporter, but Liverpool were away, Liverpool reserves weren't playing, there wasn't even a youth match, so I took my son into an Everto...”

“I would like Leveson Part Two. I think Leveson was a good exercise. That is why the Tories blocked it, because it was beginning to develop more accountability within the media itself.”

“What Gramsci is all about is hegemony: you win the battle of ideas and it dominates.”

“The New Labour political elite has long conspired to secure a so-called 'smooth transition' for Blair's successor. This would amount to little more than the imposition of a leader on the par...”

“The interests of big corporations have so permeated government that its major decisions are indistinguishable from the boardroom demands of the leading companies in each commercial sector.”

“When I had the heart attack I had one stent inserted, which was great.”

“Our supporters just want a Labour government. They want a Labour government that does what Labour governments are expected to do. They expect a Labour government to provide them, their famil...”

“In 1985, as a community activist and GLC councillor, I organised the first ever public meeting to explain the threat of a third runway at Heathrow airport for my local community.”

“If the government is injecting public money, it should also take the right to oversee board appointments, executive pay, and future business operations.”

“Political rivalry is one thing but personal smear campaigns scrape the barrel of political infighting.”

“I call a spade a shovel, straightforward. If I disagree with someone, I tell them.”