QUOTES by John McDonnell
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When governments fail us, what else can people do except take to direct action? When corporate power can so dominate government policy-making that whole communities are placed at risk, where else can people turn?
Quote by -John McDonnell
It was inevitable and understandable that the election of Jeremy Corbyn would be a massive culture shock for some sections of the party, especially some members of the parliamentary Labour party.
Quote by -John McDonnell
Out of the suffering of the 1930s, Britain built a civilising society, based in large part on the important lesson that unemployment is rarely the fault of individual malingering but the structural consequence of governments allowing the free market to rule our lives.
Quote by -John McDonnell
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.
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The concept of loyalty to the leader is set firmly in the ethos of the Labour party.
Quote by -John McDonnell
Many argue that graduates earn a 'premium' because of their education, and should have to pay their way. I agree, and that's why I've always advocated a progressive taxation system - so if people do receive large salaries, they pay more income tax.
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Britain has moved on. It is a radically different country from that which shaped New Labour.
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Going to university is, and should be, so much more than a mechanical process of grinding out a degree qualification for a pre-determined career path.
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Well organised displays of spontaneous support is one of the New Labour machine's specialities.
Quote by -John McDonnell
We want to be absolutely clear to the people what we are about. No backroom deals whatsoever and we're not going to be held back by any other political parties.
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I have a political philosophy by which I judge political events. It's called socialism, which at its core is about achieving equality, justice and peace through democracy.
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There are some lines in the sand you just do not cross. Undermining basic civil liberties by locking people up for long periods without charge is one of them.
Quote by -John McDonnell
When you're in the depths of a recession, that isn't the time when people want to challenge the system, they're too busy trying to survive. It's when they're told we're coming out of a recession, growth is returning, and they're not seeing the benefits of it, or they're not seeing them quick enough.
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Very clearly, government investment can and should be used to support economic growth.
Quote by -John McDonnell
Governments usually end not with a bang but with a whimper, as the Conservatives learned in the 1990s. Support and authority erodes over time until there is a final collapse of support and pivotal electoral shift.
Quote by -John McDonnell
You've got to demonstrate you're capable of developing policies but, more importantly, you're capable of implementing them.
Quote by -John McDonnell
If we are to depression-proof our economy we may need to pay more attention to the radical ideas and policies of those who witnessed the misery inflicted on so many during the 1930s.
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If the government is injecting public money, it should also take the right to oversee board appointments, executive pay, and future business operations.
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Airport expansion is just one example of how our planet is being plundered for profit.
Quote by -John McDonnell
A fairer system bases itself on actual outcomes - if you earn more you pay more, through progressive income tax.
Quote by -John McDonnell
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 generations.
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There's something in people's character, particularly the British character, about unfairness. They don't like it.
Quote by -John McDonnell
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.
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If people need homes then put councils and building workers to work to build them, buy up the empty ones and stop the repossessions.
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I am categorically opposed to any fees for education - and I have voted and campaigned against their introduction at every stage.
Quote by -John McDonnell
How many times have we seen politicians in office become cut off from the outside world and become unaware that the world has moved on?
Quote by -John McDonnell
Conservatives claim they are 'one nation' Tories when they have actually been a government for the 1% who have undermined our economic interests through their greed.
Quote by -John McDonnell
We stand in the centre ground of the Labour party and our traditions. The policies we are advocating go right back to the beginning.
Quote by -John McDonnell
I call a spade a shovel, straightforward. If I disagree with someone, I tell them.
Quote by -John McDonnell
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 families and their communities with the support and security they need, especially in difficult times.
Quote by -John McDonnell
From nuclear waste to Northern Rock and Metronet, risk is never transferred to the private sector - the state will always be forced to step in where there is a clear public interest.
Quote by -John McDonnell
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 Everton match. God help me. It wasn't me.
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The spread of information technology and the long-term decline in the cost of computing power have created opportunities that simply did not exist before. Airbnb, for example, could not have existed before the Internet.
Quote by -John McDonnell
If corporations and rich people who made fortunes out of us during the boom are not paying their fair share then reform the tax system and close down the tax havens.
Quote by -John McDonnell
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 party and our supporters without any real democratic participation.
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To me, education is not a commodity. It is a public good, essential to any society with a claim to being civilised.
Quote by -John McDonnell
When I left school I went onto the shop floor, working 12-hour shifts in a TV factory. My workmates were sharp, skilled and all capable of enjoying higher education - but they didn't have that opportunity.
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I made the case for public ownership in 'Another World is Possible' - a manifesto for 21st-century socialism - as it is the most rational approach for managing resources in the long-term interest of the entire community.
Quote by -John McDonnell
People realise that if Labour is to fulfil its founding goal of transforming our economic and political system into a more equal, free and truly democratic society, which provides security and life-changing opportunities to the British people, then there is no going back.
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Political rivalry is one thing but personal smear campaigns scrape the barrel of political infighting.
Quote by -John McDonnell
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 drives through a policy that destroys any vestiges of green credentials the government had left.
Quote by -John McDonnell
We need an NHS with fewer managers, fewer contractors and more power (rather than choice) to patients - with the input of the real experts: healthcare professionals.
Quote by -John McDonnell
Parties don't lose overnight, there is a gradual erosion of their base and electoral machine, which leads to sometimes cataclysmic defeat.
Quote by -John McDonnell
Since John Smith's death and the Blair/Brown takeover in 1994, party members have watched the way in which an elite leadership group has formed in the Labour party, cutting itself off from the party's traditions, values and norms of behaviour.
Quote by -John McDonnell
Nationally, unrestrained Heathrow expansion has prevented the balanced development of regional airports and their economies and the planning of an integrated transport system maximising more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as rail linked more effectively to Europe.
Quote by -John McDonnell