The thin blue lies: John McDonnell among the pro-Palestine protestors last weekend. He was later questioned by police
Our latest piece of premium content exclusively available to iC’s paying subscribers is a wide-ranging interview with John McDonnell, the veteran MP and former shadow Chancellor.
This is the latest in our The Andrew Fisher Interview series, an Under The Flyover podcast that offers in-depth and informed coverage of events as they affect Croydon.
For our interview, John McDonnell was speaking just days after a pro-Palestine demonstration in central London at the weekend, after which he was asked to “help the police with their inquiries”. In our exclusive interview, the MP for the west London constituency of Hayes and Harlington explains exactly what happened on this occasion.
He also speaks, for the first time publicly ever, about a previous run-in with the Met over a public protest, which happened more than 40 years ago when a tourist’s cine camera provided vital evidence to contradict arresting officers.
McDonnell also talks about the likely challenges that any revived scheme for a third runway at Heathrow is likely to encounter, and how what he sees as mistakes by Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s government are leaving Labour vulnerable to attacks from the left.
The interview comes almost six months after McDonnell had the Labour whip removed after he voted to scrap the Tories’ two-child benefit cap: in this interview, he reveals how he believes his suspension period will end.
And McDonnell outlines what he thinks is the biggest and most important issue facing places such as Hayes and Harlington, and Croydon, today.
The Andrew Fisher Interview is our new podcast strand from Under The Flyover, available exclusively to paying subscribers of Inside Croydon on Patreon or on Spotify.
Each month, our star columnist will be talking to national and international figures about the political, economic and social issues, global and closer to home, that affect day-to-day life in Croydon.
- Inside Croydon has moved to Bluesky. Click here to join us there for latest updates and insights
Check out our archive of podcasts on Spotify, including our monthly news discussion panel show thingy, the Croydon Insider, and The Andrew Fisher Interview
FREE ADS: Paid-up subscribers to Inside Croydon qualify for a free ad for their business, residents’ association or community group, just one of the benefits of being part of our online community. For more information about being an iC subscriber, click here for our Patreon page
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
I’d like to ask the ‘veteran MP and former shadow Chancellor’ how he got on after being questioned under caution over his participation in the weekend’s pro-Palistinian rally. Red Andy’s former boss, Jeremy Corbyn, was also questioned. Both pushed their way to the front of the barricades to bathe in the TV coverage
John McDonnell was not “questioned under caution”, and nor did he or anyone else push their way anywhere.
As you would know if you’d bothered to listen to the interview.
Listen? Him? He’s a bit hard of hearing, and it’s all Chris Philp’s fault 😉
Oh not again – ‘under caution’ was wrong. They both visited Charing Cross police station voluntarily.
So they were fine, law-abiding citizens. Despite your effort to damage their reputations