Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: John McDonnell – Overthrowing capitalism is my job

Yesterday, while the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was in full swing, Sarah Smith met with the Shadow Chancellor at the Labour party’s annual State of the Economy conference. McDonnell gave a speech at the conference promising to crack down on poor auditing practices that had contributed to the downfall of the construction company Carillion. Smith asked McDonnell about the further changes that he wanted to see in British society:

SS: You used to put in your ‘Who’s Who’ entry that your hobby was fomenting the overthrow of capitalism… Is it now your job? The overthrow of capitalism?

JM: Yes it is. It’s transforming our economy.

SS: There’s a difference between transforming the economy and overthrowing capitalism.

JM: I don’t think there is, because I think at the end of the day I want a socialist society. And that means transforming in a way which radically challenges the system as it now is.

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