Is John McDonnell’s criticism of Keir Starmer’s Labour fair? | Letter
John McDonnell clearly takes responsibility, along with Jeremy Corbyn, for the “policy platform” they developed together in the hope that “eventually Labour would return to power” (Starmer and co are trashing Labour’s legacy.We must take back control of our party – before it’s too late, 28 May).Throughout his article, McDonnell argues for an alternative strategy to that being followed by the current prime minister, Keir Starmer.At no stage does he acknowledge that, when standing on this Corbyn/McDonnell policy platform, Labour lost two general elections.By losing these elections they condemned this country to seven years of Tory rule – seven years during which the Tories wreaked havoc.
Yet I note that not once in his piece does McDonnell offer any kind of apology for these years of mayhem,Starmer is at least attempting to put this right,He changed the party’s policies in order to make it more electable, and he was (thankfully) successful,Now let him get on and finish the job,Passing “control” back to McDonnell and his sidekicks will merely send Labour back into the wilderness.
Shaun SoperMidhurst, West Sussex John McDonnell has identified Labour’s malaise, which, he reminds us, affects not just its members in No 10 (hubris) but the entire movement (disillusionment).Almost a year ago seven MPs – including him – were suspended when they voted against maintaining the two-child cap on benefits, and after Labour’s recent U-turn we can only look forward, in hope, to their reinstatement.But, as he warns us, we face a looming crisis.He is right to characterise how Labour is governing as “timid”.Its tone-deaf acceptance of corporate gifting was dismissed as trivial sniping by the left.
Try citing that as an excuse when attempting to retain support on the doorstep and being met with “they’re all the same” while those desperate for change look over your shoulder at Reform,The number of MPs who vote with the government, or abstain, when it attempts to cut disabled people’s benefits will be a measure of how deeply unwell the party has become,Dr Peter ManganBeckenham, Kent John McDonnell’s criticism of the Labour government may well be music to the receptive ears of people frustrated by a lack of progress on many issues of concern to those in the labour movement and beyond in these still early days of Starmer’s government,I’m reminded of the early years of Tony Blair’s government, during which so many felt frustrated with progress,But look at how that changed and bore fruit, to the extent that by 2010 Labour was deemed an overspending, reckless, leftish government.
In 2010, in the dog days of Gordon Brown’s tenure, I recall sharing a platform with John McDonnell, who castigated Brown as a rightwing monetarist who had failed the labour movement and the people.What we would all give to have those levels of social spending now.Trevor HopperLewes, East Sussex Like John McDonnell, I am in my 70s, a lifelong Labour voter, and I have been a member of the party for more than 40 years.I would just note that every Labour government in my lifetime, including the great Attlee government, has been accused of betrayal and abandoning principles, mainly by people who claim to be on the left.I would also note that, despite the criticisms, it is Labour governments that have delivered almost every social advance and economic improvement in the lives of ordinary British voters over those more than seven decades.
Alex GallagherLargs, North Ayrshire Bridget Phillipson says it is the moral mission “of this Labour government to ensure that fewer children grow up in poverty” (Report, 27 May),What’s with “fewer”? Shouldn’t it be that no children grow up in poverty, or am I missing something?Simon Lauris Hudson Pontefract, West Yorkshire Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section,
China accuses US of ‘seriously violating’ trade war truce; UK factory output shrinks again – business live
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.Trade war tensions are on the rise again, as relations between China and the US deteriorate.Beijing has hit back this morning against Washington, accusing the US of “seriously violating” the trade truce which the two powers agreed in Zurich last month.China’s commerce ministry also promised to take forceful measures to safeguard its interests, rejecting a claim from Donald Trump last week that China has ‘totally violated’ its trade agreement with the US.In a statement, the ministry said:“The U
Vodafone vows to invest more than £1bn in a year as it seals Three UK merger
Vodafone has promised to invest more than £1bn in expanding its network coverage in the next year, as it sealed a £16.5bn merger with its former mobile rival Three UK.The new business, named VodafoneThree, will invest £11bn in its coverage over the next decade, in line with commitments agreed with the UK competition regulator last year. It will invest £1.3bn in capital expenditure projects in its first year, the company said on Monday
Facebook and Instagram owner Meta to enable AI ad creation by end of next year
The owner of Facebook and Instagram is to help advertisers to fully create and target campaigns using artificial intelligence tools by the end of next year, in a move that sent shock waves through the traditional marketing industry.Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which also owns WhatsApp, aims to directly target brands’ marketing budgets, posing a threat to the advertising and media agencies that handle client campaigns and budgets.The AI tools under development, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, will allow brands using Meta’s advertising platform to create ads using a product image and a planned marketing spend.Meta’s platform already offers some AI tools that allow advertisers to tweak existing ads before they appear on Facebook and Instagram.However, the new tools could disintermediate the traditional advertising creation, planning and buying roles played by agencies, as well as open up a long tail of advertisers with small budgets that cannot afford to retain marketing services companies
‘Humanity deserves better’: iPhone designer on new partnership with OpenAI
The designer of the iPhone has promised his next artificial intelligence-enabled device will be driven by a sense that “humanity deserves better”, after admitting feeling “responsibility” for some of the negative consequences of modern technology.Sir Jony Ive said his new partnership with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, would renew his optimism about technology, amid widespread concerns about the impact of smartphones and social media.In an interview with the Financial Times, London-born Ive declined to give details about the device he is developing with OpenAI, but indicated unease about people’s relationship with some tech products.“Many of us would say we have an uneasy relationship with technology at the moment,” he said. He added that the device’s design would be driven by “a sense of ‘we deserve better
French Open: Zverev and Pegula in action, Gauff wins, Norrie v Djokovic to come – live
Pegula has two break-back points, and while Boisson saves the first with a pinpoint lob, the American prevails in the next rally. We’re back on serve at 3-3.After that early break for Griekspoor, Zverev has taken charge – breaking his opponent in the first game of the second, and backing up with a hold to lead 6-4, 2-0.Boisson does earn a break point, and goes for it on second serve – only to send her return wide. She gets another chance as Pegula nets, and this time the shot down the line pays off! Boisson leads 3-2 in the second set and it’s game on
Simon Yates rides away with prize of Giro d’Italia while rivals lose the plot | William Fotheringham
The Mexican standoff is a much-loved cinematic device, but the stalemate beloved of western movie script writers has rarely, if ever, decided one of cycling’s Grand Tours. The 2025 Giro d’Italia was the exception, appositely as the biggest loser was an actual Mexican, Isaac del Toro, with the unassuming Lancastrian Simon Yates the two-wheeled equivalent of the bandit who skips off with the loot, while two other bandits – in this case Richard Carapaz and Del Toro – stare each other down waiting for the other man to blink.Yates’s second career Grand Tour win, forged on the Colle delle Finestre on Saturday afternoon in a peerless display of courage and cunning, and sealed 24 hours later in the streets of Rome, will go down in cycling’s annals as one of the most improbable heists the sport has witnessed.The endless joy of the Grand Tours – Spain, France, Italy – is that they throw up all kinds of delightful scenarios, but there have been few, if any, where the decisive plot line was a frozen stalemate between the cyclists in first and second places, each waiting for the other to move while a third man skipped away to victory. This was probably the most bizarre act of self-immolation in a Grand Tour since 1989, when Pedro Delgado wrecked his race on day one by getting lost en route to the start of the prologue time trial
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