John McDonnell

‘Tax the Super-Rich’ instead of slashing services, Labour told

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/tax-the-super-rich-instead-of-slashing-services-labour-told

Protesters outside the Treasury this evening

Chancellor Reeves’ planned public spending cuts will ‘open the door’ for Reform UK, McDonnell warns as campaigners get set to rally outside the Treasury

TAX the super-rich instead of slashing services, Chancellor Rachel Reeves was told today, on the eve of her Commons statement, expected to announce more public spending cuts.

Campaigners from a range of charities and voluntary organisations are set to rally outside the Treasury this evening to demand a wealth tax instead of “austerity with a red rosette” in the words of a leading trade unionist.

And former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, presently suspended from the Labour whip, has warned that Ms Reeves was in danger of making Labour “just another austerity party” if she missed a last chance to change course.

The wealth tax option is growing in political popularity following recent announcements of a £5 billion cut in disability benefits and huge cuts to overseas aid to fund new arms spending.

It is backed by the TUC and a broad range of Labour MPs.

Just a 2.5 per cent tax on assets over £10 million could raise £36bn annually, according to Greenpeace’s research.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/tax-the-super-rich-instead-of-slashing-services-labour-told

Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves wear the uniform of the rich and powerful. They have all had clothes bought for them by multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Alli. CORRECTION: It appears that Rachel Reeves clothing was provided by Juliet Rosenfeld.
Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves wear the uniform of the rich and powerful. They have all had clothes bought for them by multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Alli. CORRECTION: It appears that Rachel Reeves clothing was provided by Juliet Rosenfeld.
Keir Starmer confirms that he's proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
Keir Starmer confirms that he’s proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
Continue Reading‘Tax the Super-Rich’ instead of slashing services, Labour told

John McDonnell : Advice to Keir Starmer: stop the fawning over Trump. Then help plan for a better world without him

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/05/keir-starmer-fawning-over-trump-plan-better-world

Donald Trump shows off a letter from King Charles that Keir Starmer has just handed him, Washington, 27 February 2025. Photograph: ABACA/REX/Shutterstock

We need a ‘coalition of the willing’ capable of bringing together those in Europe and the global south. Britain should facilitate that

There are only so many times Donald Trump can be offered a state and royal visit to temper his political tantrums. With his latest attacks on Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the halting of aid to Ukraine, it’s already clear that not even the offer of a bed for the night at Balmoral has worked.

The silver lining of the Trump experience over the past fortnight is hopefully that it leads to a more realistic appraisal not just of the implications of the re-election of this narcissistic, bullying, corporate thug, but an understanding of the role the US has played over generations. Trump and his gang members JD Vance and Elon Musk are just the ugliest of faces of the US global policy pursued for a century at least.

In 1992 Noam Chomsky published a bestselling booklet, What Uncle Sam Really Wants. A read of Chomsky may help Labour’s policymakers overcome their apparent naivety so worryingly displayed in the constant references to the special relationship between the UK and US.

Trump’s “America First” policy is simply a more blatant articulation of the role the US has pursued globally since at least the second world war.

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There is an opening now for a much greater and more longer-sighted “coalition of the willing” capable of bringing together those in Europe and the global south to create the alliances and institutions needed to pursue the political and economic agenda that the US now resiles from.

This includes an economic cooperation agenda not based upon tariffs and protectionism for the wealthy, but one that is mutually beneficial and tackles both the grotesque inequalities between north and south and the common threat of the climate emergency.

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Unwise and immoral plans to cut British overseas aid, undermining soft power, are a legacy of a sort, but how much better it would be to see our prime minister using our influence and heft to bring together all those who want to discuss and construct a world reordered without the malign influences of Trump and China. That really would be a place in history worth having.

Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/05/keir-starmer-fawning-over-trump-plan-better-world

Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Continue ReadingJohn McDonnell : Advice to Keir Starmer: stop the fawning over Trump. Then help plan for a better world without him

Bill would force banks to carry out ‘mass surveillance’ of millions of innocent disabled people, MPs are told

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https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/bill-would-force-banks-to-carry-out-mass-surveillance-of-millions-of-innocent-disabled-people-mps-are-told/

A new government bill would force banks to carry out “mass surveillance” of millions of innocent disabled people and other benefit claimants, MPs have been warned.

The measures in the bill would force banks to examine individuals’ accounts for potential breaches of benefit eligibility rules, and then pass that information to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

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Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall told MPs on Monday that the measures would force banks to provide data to “help identify incorrect benefit payments people might be getting, including fraudulently, such as if someone has too much in savings, making them ineligible for a benefit, or if they are fraudulently claiming benefits abroad when they should be living in the UK”.

But independent MP Zarah Sultana said the “algorithm-driven financial surveillance” allowed by the bill would lead to errors that would disproportionately affect disabled and older people and “those already struggling to make ends meet”, and create “a two-tier justice system”.

She said: “Even a one per cent error rate in the AI system used by banks could lead to thousands of benefit recipients being wrongly flagged, unfairly investigated and forced into lengthy appeals.”

She said the bill would allow “mass surveillance” and was “deeply unjust” and would “subject millions of innocent people – disabled individuals, carers, jobseekers, pensioners and parents – to unwarranted financial surveillance, treating them as suspects by default, simply because they receive state support”.

It would, she said, turn banks into “agents of the state”.

Another independent MP, John McDonnell, the former Labour shadow chancellor, said the government was seeking powers for a “mass surveillance exercise”.

He said: “The reason why people will feel that it is unfair is that it specifically targets people who are often in desperate need.

“If there was a group of people whose accounts we would want to monitor because there has been a history of fraud, and who have had to pay money back – some have gone to prison – it would be MPs; I was here during the expenses scandal.”

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https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/bill-would-force-banks-to-carry-out-mass-surveillance-of-millions-of-innocent-disabled-people-mps-are-told/

Keir Starmer confirms that he's proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
Keir Starmer confirms that he’s proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
Continue ReadingBill would force banks to carry out ‘mass surveillance’ of millions of innocent disabled people, MPs are told

Jeremy Corbyn slams Met Police for handling of London Palestine rally

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https://www.thenational.scot/news/24867536.jeremy-corbyn-slams-met-police-handling-london-palestine-rally

FORMER Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has hit out at the Met Police over its handling of a Palestine rally in London on Saturday.

More than 70 demonstrators were arrested on suspicion of breaching protest conditions after reportedly breaking through a police line as they marched from a rally in Whitehall.

It comes after the Met denied putting a “ring of steel” around the BBC as the force prevented plans by protesters to target the broadcaster’s offices.

Police clash with protesters at the rally (Image: Jeff Moore/PA Wire)

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Corbyn, who sits as an independent MP, responded to a post from the Met Police on Twitter/X which said: “The group that forced its way through the police line is now held at the north west corner of Trafalgar Square.

“Anyone in that group should now disperse and leave the area. Anyone remaining in breach of the conditions, or inciting further breaches, will be arrested.”

READ MORE: Man working for Scottish charity suspected to be in Israeli prison

In his response, the former Labour leader said: “This is not an accurate description of events at all.

“I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of the children in Gaza who had been killed.

“This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through. When we reached Trafalgar Square, we informed police that we would go no. further, lay down flowers and disperse.”

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https://www.thenational.scot/news/24867536.jeremy-corbyn-slams-met-police-handling-london-palestine-rally

Continue ReadingJeremy Corbyn slams Met Police for handling of London Palestine rally

Ministers warned to stop the rush to ‘political suicide’

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/ministers-warned-to-stop-the-rush-to-political-suicide

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference at the QEII Centre, London, November 25, 2024

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Leading left MP and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell issued the warning to Rachel Reeves as the Chancellor returned from her China trip to confront the bond market crisis.

Mr McDonnell, presently suspended from the Labour whip for opposing the cruel two-child benefit cap, told BBC radio: “There is obviously a problem.

“There’s turbulence in the international markets, and we’ve just got to see those through.

“You don’t turn to cuts, certainly, because not only will that be politically suicidal, that would undermine the political support upon which Labour got elected.

“In addition to that, you would be taking demand out of the economy, and you would be looking at turning a crisis into a recession.

“So I think you just have to see through the turbulence in the markets.”

Mr McDonnell also reminded the government that voters matter more than markets.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/ministers-warned-to-stop-the-rush-to-political-suicide

Continue ReadingMinisters warned to stop the rush to ‘political suicide’