John McDonnell says the Labour MPs who picked up their phones the minute he started responding to the Autumn Statement were tweeting.

In a mild slap down, the shadow chancellor told Sky News he was not sure how MPs playing with their phones during speeches went "down with the general public".

As Mr McDonnell got to his feet, about 20 of his own MPs started studying their mobiles - some showing messages to those sitting next to them.

McDonnell condemns 'trivial' investment promises

He told Sky News: "What they do now in the Commons, and ... I'm not sure how this goes down with the general public, is that a lot of them will actually be tweeting and they will be tweeting their comments out about what's been said and they will be responding to tweets etc.

"It has changed the nature of the chamber and I'm not sure how that goes down with the general public but that is what's happening consistently now and you see that on all political parties too."


The shadow chancellor also criticised his opposite number Philip Hammond for failing to get to grips with Brexit and said he was worried about the £60bn blackhole it is forecast to leave in the public finances.

Autumn Statement: The highlights

He also expressed concern that new infrastructure funding would not translate into actual schemes, saying that of current infrastructure projects, only one in five got anywhere near construction.

And he said the Autumn Statement had done more for the rich than working families.

Mr McDonald said: "In terms of redirecting the economy, the infrastructure investment was trivial in comparison with what we need, and at the same time, they did nothing in terms of fair taxation.

"They kept on with those giveaways to the rich and the corporations whilst at the same time penalising working families."

His comments were echoed by the Resolution Foundation, which said that families face a bigger squeeze on income than they did during the financial crisis, says Resolution Foundation

Torsten Bell, Director of the Resolution Foundation, said: "The combination of lower growth, higher inflation and the government's decision to press ahead with big welfare cuts, means that households risk experiencing even slower income growth in this parliament than they saw in the aftermath of the financial crisis .

"But unlike the last parliament, it will be low and middle income households who feel the tightest squeeze this time round."

