Shadow chancellor condemns wartime PM over his role in quelling of 1910 riots in Wales

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has said that Winston Churchill was a villain rather than a hero, because of his role in the quelling of rioting in a south Wales town.

When asked at an event organised by Politico in London on Wednesday whether the wartime British prime minister was a hero or a villain, McDonnell replied: “Tonypandy. Villain”.

He was referring to the incident in the south Wales town in November 1910 when one miner was killed and about 580 people, including 80 policemen, were injured after Churchill, the then home secretary, sent 200 Metropolitan police officers with a detachment of Lancashire Fusiliers held in reserve in Cardiff to stop riots that erupted after police attempted to break the miners’ picket line.

The soldiers were eventually deployed, although it has been long disputed whether Churchill personally sanctioned the decision. Churchill nonetheless remained deeply unpopular in the south Wales valleys and within the Labour party.

In response to McDonnell’s answer, Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames claimed the shadow chancellor was seeking publicity and branded him a “Poundland Lenin”.

“Frankly it’s a very foolish and stupid thing to say, surely said to gain publicity,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “I think my grandfather’s reputation can withstand a publicity-seeking assault from a third-rate, Poundland Lenin. I don’t think it will shake the world.”

There has been renewed debate recently over the legacy of Churchill, who in 2002 was named the greatest Briton ever in a BBC poll. The Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan rebuked the Green party MSP Ross Greer on live TV last month after the politician called Churchill a “white supremacist mass murderer” in a tweet.

During the live Politico London Playbook interview, McDonnell also conceded that it was unlikely that Labour would be able to force a general election to renegotiate Brexit, after the shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, suggested it was not a credible option.

“We’re still in the hope of a general election, but it’s unlikely, so, yeah, I think [Starmer was right],” McDonnell said.

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The MP for Hayes and Harlington also said Theresa May was “floundering” and predicted parliament would soon take Brexit “off her hands” to force a softer exit upon the government.

Suggesting that Labour’s demand for a permanent customs union could be the price for supporting the EU withdrawal agreement, McDonnell said: “We think it could fly with parliament eventually.”

He later warned: “Don’t underestimate the strength of feeling to prevent no deal.”

• This article was amended on 15 February 2019. An earlier version reported that McDonnell’s response to the Churchill question was: “Villain – Tonypandy.” This has been corrected to “Tonypandy. Villain”.