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| John McDonnell under fire for quoting Mao Zedong in Commons | John McDonnell under fire for quoting Mao Zedong in Commons |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| John McDonnell, Labour’s shadow chancellor, provoked controversy in the Commons by quoting from the Little Red Book of the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong in his response to the spending review. | John McDonnell, Labour’s shadow chancellor, provoked controversy in the Commons by quoting from the Little Red Book of the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong in his response to the spending review. |
| In a move that sparked laughter and jeering in the Commons, McDonnell pulled out a copy of the book to make a point about George Osborne’s relationship with the Chinese, read out a passage and then threw it across the table of the house. | In a move that sparked laughter and jeering in the Commons, McDonnell pulled out a copy of the book to make a point about George Osborne’s relationship with the Chinese, read out a passage and then threw it across the table of the house. |
| Related: John McDonnell’s Mao moment is a dirty trick on his own party | Jonathan Jones | |
| He said: “To assist comrade Osborne about dealing with his newfound comrades, I have brought him along Mao’s Little Red Book.” | He said: “To assist comrade Osborne about dealing with his newfound comrades, I have brought him along Mao’s Little Red Book.” |
| McDonnell was forced to pause, amid laughter from the Conservative benches. | McDonnell was forced to pause, amid laughter from the Conservative benches. |
| After the Speaker restored order, McDonnell said: “Let’s quote from Mao, rarely done in this chamber. The quote is this: ‘We must learn to do economic work from all who know how, no matter who they are, we must esteem them as teachers, learning from them respectfully and conscientiously, but we must not pretend to know what we do not know.’ I thought it would come in handy for him in his new relationship.” | After the Speaker restored order, McDonnell said: “Let’s quote from Mao, rarely done in this chamber. The quote is this: ‘We must learn to do economic work from all who know how, no matter who they are, we must esteem them as teachers, learning from them respectfully and conscientiously, but we must not pretend to know what we do not know.’ I thought it would come in handy for him in his new relationship.” |
| Although McDonnell appeared to have been joking, critics were quick to point out that it may not have been wise to quote from a communist leader who has been blamed for the famine that cost up to 45 million lives in China during the Great Leap Forward. | Although McDonnell appeared to have been joking, critics were quick to point out that it may not have been wise to quote from a communist leader who has been blamed for the famine that cost up to 45 million lives in China during the Great Leap Forward. |
| The former Labour MP Tony McNulty tweeted: | The former Labour MP Tony McNulty tweeted: |
| Whoever said "I know, let's see if we can get a quote from Mao's little Red Book to accentuate point" probably shouldn't have done. Really? | Whoever said "I know, let's see if we can get a quote from Mao's little Red Book to accentuate point" probably shouldn't have done. Really? |
| Another former Labour MP, Anne McGuire, also criticised the gesture, saying: “I’m afraid we lost the politics today when ‘Little Red Book’ came out as that will be the abiding image.” | Another former Labour MP, Anne McGuire, also criticised the gesture, saying: “I’m afraid we lost the politics today when ‘Little Red Book’ came out as that will be the abiding image.” |
| The former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said he was not sure why McDonnell had referred to Mao as a joke. | The former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said he was not sure why McDonnell had referred to Mao as a joke. |
| “The last politicians that I quoted, who have inspired me, are Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Keir Hardie – they’re the ones I tend to quote. But that’s my choice. I haven’t quoted a communist before and I have no intention of doing so in the future,” he said. | “The last politicians that I quoted, who have inspired me, are Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Keir Hardie – they’re the ones I tend to quote. But that’s my choice. I haven’t quoted a communist before and I have no intention of doing so in the future,” he said. |
| Responding to McDonnell’s speech, Osborne expressed incredulity at his opponent’s move. “So the shadow chancellor literally stood at the dispatch box and read out from Mao’s Little Red Book,” he said. | Responding to McDonnell’s speech, Osborne expressed incredulity at his opponent’s move. “So the shadow chancellor literally stood at the dispatch box and read out from Mao’s Little Red Book,” he said. |
| Opening the book, the chancellor said: “Oh look! It’s his personal signed copy. The problem is half the shadow cabinet have been sent off to re-education.” | Opening the book, the chancellor said: “Oh look! It’s his personal signed copy. The problem is half the shadow cabinet have been sent off to re-education.” |
| A spokesman for McDonnell said the shadow chancellor’s use of the Mao book had been “jocular” and all part of the theatrics of the House of Commons chamber. | A spokesman for McDonnell said the shadow chancellor’s use of the Mao book had been “jocular” and all part of the theatrics of the House of Commons chamber. |
| Asked whose idea it had been, the spokesman said it emerged from “group discussions”. “It is nothing more than a joke and it is no indication of any underlying belief system,” another Labour aide said. | Asked whose idea it had been, the spokesman said it emerged from “group discussions”. “It is nothing more than a joke and it is no indication of any underlying belief system,” another Labour aide said. |
| By mid-afternoon, the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, tweeted her confusion about whether McDonnell would be appearing on the television as scheduled. Despite the uncertainty, it is understood that McDonnell is still planning to appear on the BBC but had to be in the Commons chamber until 3.30pm. | By mid-afternoon, the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, tweeted her confusion about whether McDonnell would be appearing on the television as scheduled. Despite the uncertainty, it is understood that McDonnell is still planning to appear on the BBC but had to be in the Commons chamber until 3.30pm. |
| The quote read by McDonnell appears to be a line from Mao’s article On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship, published in June 1949 just before the republic was established. | The quote read by McDonnell appears to be a line from Mao’s article On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship, published in June 1949 just before the republic was established. |
| The slogan was well known as one of Mao’s directives on how to approach economics, according to histories of the period. | The slogan was well known as one of Mao’s directives on how to approach economics, according to histories of the period. |