The thin blue lies: John McDonnell among the pro-Palestine protestors last weekend. He was later questioned by police
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.
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