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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Labour 'war-gaming for run on pound' if elected | Labour 'war-gaming for run on pound' if elected |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The Labour Party is making detailed plans for government, including "war-game-type scenario-planning" for events such as "a run on the pound". | The Labour Party is making detailed plans for government, including "war-game-type scenario-planning" for events such as "a run on the pound". |
| Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the party was preparing "detailed implementation manuals" and drafting legislation so it could "hit the deck running" if elected. | Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the party was preparing "detailed implementation manuals" and drafting legislation so it could "hit the deck running" if elected. |
| At the same conference fringe event, former broadcaster Paul Mason warned the first six months of a Corbyn government would be "like Stalingrad", with attacks from the establishment. | At the same conference fringe event, former broadcaster Paul Mason warned the first six months of a Corbyn government would be "like Stalingrad", with attacks from the establishment. |
| Labour performed better than had been forecast in June's general election, gaining 30 seats and helping deprive the Conservatives of a majority. | |
| Mr McDonnell said the party, whose manifesto contained a number of large spending commitments and proposals to increase taxes on business and the better-off, was trying to "answer the question about what happens when, or if, they come for us". | |
| "People want to know we're ready, and they want to know we've got a response to anything that could happen. | "People want to know we're ready, and they want to know we've got a response to anything that could happen. |
| "What we're doing now, we're taking every policy commitment within the manifesto and we're looking to develop detailed implementation manuals. | "What we're doing now, we're taking every policy commitment within the manifesto and we're looking to develop detailed implementation manuals. |
| "That's the sort of bureaucrat I am… that's the sort of bureaucratic work that has to be done in the preparation of almost a traditional government. | "That's the sort of bureaucrat I am… that's the sort of bureaucratic work that has to be done in the preparation of almost a traditional government. |
| "But we're not going to be a traditional government; we're going to be a radical government. | "But we're not going to be a traditional government; we're going to be a radical government. |
| Mr McDonnell said Labour must "scenario plan" for all kinds of potential challenges it might face in government "bringing the relevant expertise together at every level to talk through what happens if there is such and such a reaction". | |
| "What if there is a run on the pound? What happens if there is this concept of capital flight? I don't think there will be, but you never know. | "What if there is a run on the pound? What happens if there is this concept of capital flight? I don't think there will be, but you never know. |
| "We've got to start work now… how exactly are we going to manage these industries when we take them back into public ownership? And let's start doing the detailed work now. | "We've got to start work now… how exactly are we going to manage these industries when we take them back into public ownership? And let's start doing the detailed work now. |
| "Let's start doing the consultations with consumers or passengers or whoever and also with local authorities and local councils or whoever." | "Let's start doing the consultations with consumers or passengers or whoever and also with local authorities and local councils or whoever." |
| 'Sir Humphreys' | |
| Mark Serwotka, of the PCS union representing civil servants, said Labour would face "huge" opposition if it wins power, predicting that "all the usual arms of the ruling class will be brought to bear". | |
| This included using financial markets to bring "economic pressures" including "the flight of capital" and trying to destabilise the economy, he said at a fringe event organised by the Corbyn-supporting Momentum group. | |
| He also said Labour would have to resist pressure from senior civil servants, "Sir Humphreys", who wanted to preserve the status quo. | |
| "We have got to be prepared," he said. | |
| Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett said a "clean break" was required if Labour takes over. | |
| "We are going to have to change the way that the British state works fundamentally," he said. | |
| But the Conservatives said Labour's plans to nationalise a swathe of industries, including the railways, water and Royal Mail, as well as buy out PFI contracts for the running of schools, hospitals and other public services would result in "a collapse in business investment and a crash in the value of the pound". | |
| "Labour's plans would go too far, and ordinary working people will end up footing the bill," Chancellor Philip Hammond said. |