The former shadow chancellor has called for a ‘popular front’ against Reform
The left needs to “learn the lesson of history” to prevent a “far-right, proto-fascist government” being elected under Reform, the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said.
McDonnell made the comments in an interview with Left Foot Forward at this year’s TUC Congress in Brighton.
Speaking to Left Foot Forward about the new party being formed by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, John McDonnell said he was “staying within the Labour Party” because there was still the potential for things to “change rapidly” within Labour. He added: “With Jeremy and Zarah, we’re close friends and Jeremy and I have been allies and friends for 50 years. I think they’d want to be Labour MPs now. I think they’ve been forced out of the party. If there’s a change in the Labour Party and there’s a new leader at some stage, I’d want that new leader to invite them back in.”
Following this, McDonnell went on to say “When they go ahead set up this new party that’s forming, the most important thing for me is that we learn the lesson of history, particularly the 1930s. We’re facing a Reform government – a far right, proto-fascist government. What happened in the 30s is that the left was disunited, the communists separated from the social democrats and learnt that lesson only too late – so there was a united front, but not a popular front. And as a result of that, the far right took control and the Nazis formed a government.”
McDonnell went on to argue that there needed to be a new ‘popular front’ formed on the left to prevent Reform from forming a government. He told Left Foot Forward: “What we’ve got to do is recognise we need a united front now but it’s got to be a popular front. Wherever you are and whatever organisation, whatever party you are, you’re working together against the rise of the far right in this country.
“And so I think whether you’re in a political party, Labour, or the new party that’s forming, or the Greens, or progressive movements or campaigns, we need to develop that popular front working together – both in terms of the work on the streets and in meetings and in parliament and in different institutions like political parties, but also generating the ideas that we need to convince that there is a hope and a possibility for the future.”
McDonnell also spoke to Left Foot Forward about the ongoing deputy leadership election. Although McDonnell remains a member of the Labour Party, he is currently sitting as an independent MP as a result of having the Labour whip removed after he he voted for an SNP motion calling for the government to scrap the two-child benefit cap. As such, he won’t be able to nominate a candidate for the deputy leadership of the party.
Nevertheless, he still has strong views on the type of character that should be on the ballot for the left. He told Left Foot Forward: “The membership of the party want the Socialist Campaign Group or a left candidate to stand.” He added that it was the “right thing to do” for the left to stand a candidate in the election, saying that “any member of the campaign group” who are all “really fine socialists” could be the left’s candidate. The Socialist Campaign Group is a grouping of left wing Labour MPs within parliament.
Any candidate for the deputy leadership requires nominations from 80 of their fellow Labour MPs, something which McDonnell says will be a barrier to getting a left candidate onto the ballot paper. He said it was “really tough” to get that many nominations and said that the new, higher threshold for nominations was designed to “block the left from standing” in leadership contests.
Richard Burgon, a fellow left wing MP told Left Foot Forward at TUC Congress that he wouldn’t be willing to support any candidate for the deputy leadership who didn’t vote for a ceasefire in Gaza or who didn’t vote against cuts to disability benefits. McDonnell made the same case, saying: “I couldn’t support or be associated with someone who, for example, voted for the disability [benefit] cuts, or someone who didn’t support the ceasefire in Gaza. I think they’re almost basics about what I could even live with.”
McDonnell went on to tell Left Foot Forward that the election of the deputy leader “needs to be about the direction of the party and the performance of this government both in the last 12 months but also in the future.” He continued by saying: “What we’ve got to do is force the issues onto the agenda. Whoever is on that ballot paper we should expect party members to be demanding answers to questions that they’ll be putting, and there should be a discussion of the programme of the government for the next three to four years – how you’re going to address the living standards of working people, how you’re going to bring about a real transformation of both wealth and power in this country, but also how you’re going to have an international programme that brings about peace and justice particularly for the Palestinian people.”
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
Image credit: Garry Knight – Creative Commons
Left Foot Forward doesn’t have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.
