From the moment Jeremy Corbyn selected John McDonnell to be his shadow chancellor there have been many rumblings both inside and out of the Parliamentary Labour Party. The press lambasted him as even more left wing than the leader himself. Vocal members of the PLP had called on Jeremy to appoint Angela Eagle to the role so as to balance the shadow cabinet both politically and by gender. However the last week has vindicated Jeremy’s decision. McDonnell has not just outperformed expectations held over him by the naysayers, but he has also begun to establish a vision for a new British economy.
This run of form began on 18 January with the announcement of ‘the new economics tour’. The first talk took place last week alongside Mariana Mazzucato who is a member of McDonnell’s economic advisory board, also made up of heavyweight economists Thomas Piketty and Joseph Stiglitz. Not only did the announcement ensure some good news for Labour’s economic credibility by showing the party backed by respected economists, but it also showed some real direction. McDonnell’s speech at the Co-Operative conference confirmed this sense of direction. In proposing a ‘right to own’ the Shadow Chancellor, all too aware of Labour’s previous failure to form a coherent economic vision, began to stress core components of his new economic approach.
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