Labour's new shadow chancellor John McDonnell today insisted the economy would be 'safe' in his hands – despite previously calling for the 'overthrow of capitalism'.
Mr McDonnell, a radical socialist and long-time ally of Jeremy Corbyn, wants to nationalise all the banks, railways and utility companies, hike taxes on companies and increase national insurance payments by 7 per cent for anyone earning more than £50,000.
The veteran west London MP this morning dismissed widespread criticism over this appointment and promised to make people more 'prosperous'.
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Labour's new shadow chancellor John McDonnell today insisted the economy would be 'safe' in his hands – despite previously calling for the 'overthrow of capitalism'
But the former Labour home secretary Charles Clarke told the BBC that Mr Corbyn's choice showed he wanted to 'go down the most hardline position there was'.
During Mr Corbyn's election campaign, Mr McDonnell – acting as his campaign chief – set out a £10bn plan to scrap all tuition fees and restore student maintenance.
He said the plan could be funded either by a 7 per cent rise in national insurance for those earning over £50,000 a year and a 2.5% higher corporation tax on companies.
Another option would be to borrow more by slowing the pace at which the deficit is reduced.
Mr McDonnell wants to see the wholesale nationalisation of the railways, energy companies and banks.
Shares in companies privatised by George Osborne could also be seized back without compensation – potentially affecting thousands of post office and RBS workers
Mr McDonnell, a radical socialist and long-time ally of Jeremy Corbyn, wants to nationalise all the banks, railways and utility companies
Former Labour home secretary Charles Clarke told the BBC that the choice of shadow chancellor by Mr Corbyn - pictured today outside his home in north London - showed he wanted to 'go down the most hardline position there was'
Mr McDonnell told a rally at the annual trade union conference that he had been 'campaigning for the nationalisation of the banks' for years. 'They are jokers, these bankers'.
He said: 'Under a Corbyn Labour government this shameful era of governments and ministers colluding in the picking of the taxpayers' pockets will be brought to an abrupt end.
'Let's also make it absolutely clear to any speculators in the City looking to make a fast buck at the taxpayers' expense that if any of these assets are sold by Osborne under their value, a future Corbyn-led Labour government will reserve the right to bring them back into public ownership with either no compensation or with any undervaluation deducted from any compensation for renationalisation.'
Mr McDonnell is against the third runway at Heathrow – where he is the constituency MP
Mr Corbyn and his shadow chancellor have also controversially pledged to introduce 'people's quantitative easing' – forcing the Bank of England to print money to build roads and houses.
Mr Corbyn says: 'One option would be for the Bank of England to be given a new mandate to upgrade our economy to invest in new, large-scale housing, energy, transport and digital projects: quantitative easing for people instead of banks.'
Mr McDonnell is against the third runway at Heathrow – where he is the constituency MP.
The Hayes and Harlington MP previously said a Corbyn government would pledge to clear the budget deficit, 'but not by hitting the poor' and refused to set an 'arbitrary deadline' for balancing the books.
Mr Corbyn says: 'We all want the deficit closed on the current budget, but there was no need to try to do it within an artificial five years or even the extra five years George Osborne mapped out.
'If the deficit has been closed by 2020 and the economy is growing, then Labour should not run a current budget deficit – but we should borrow to invest in our future prosperity.'
But Mr McDonnell today defended his appointment, insisting the economy would be 'safe in our hands'.
He told the BBC: 'I have got a long history in terms of financial administration. I was Chancellor of the Exchequer for London at the age of 29.
'My new policies, with Jeremy's, have been roundly endorsed by the leadership election, so the economy would be safe in our hands but also it would be more prosperous.'
Mr McDonnell believes a future Labour government could raise £120billion a year by cracking down on tax avoidance.
But even Mr Corbyn's economics guru Richard Murphy has warned that only £20billion could be clawed back.
Ken Livingstone (second left) and John McDonnell (second right) are long-time allies along with Mr Corbyn
The scale of the problems Mr Corbyn faces in uniting the party were underlined as Hilary Benn, who is staying on as shadow foreign secretary, declined to offer full endorsement for Mr McDonnell's appointment.
Asked if he was 100 per cent behind Mr McDonnell being handed the key economic job, Mr Benn told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'This is the choice that Jeremy has made. I respect the choice that Jeremy has made as leader.
'We have just come off the back of two bad election defeats for the Labour Party, and our principle task is to win the people's trust when it comes to the economy.
'John's first and last task as shadow chancellor will be to win the trust and confidence of the British people in arguing for a different economic policy.'
SHADOW CHANCELLOR John McDonnell is friends with Gerry Adams and claimed he wanted to 'assassinate' Thatcher
By Martin Robinson for MailOnline
He's the ultra-radical MP and close friend of Jeremy Corbyn who would 'swim through vomit' to oppose benefits cuts and was sacked by Ken Livingstone for being too left wing.
Today John McDonnell starts work as the shadow Chancellor and insists Britain's economy would be safer and 'more prosperous' in his hands.
Mr McDonnell admits he would like to 'overthrow capitalism' and backs economic policies including renationalising the banks, energy companies and railways.
Comrades in arms: Pictured in 1984 Greater London Council Leader Ken Livingstone (left) and colleagues John McDonnell (second left), Ken Little (second right) and Lewis Herbert (right) in front of Parliament
Now the MP for Hayes and Harlington has been handed the top job in the shadow cabinet and has blamed his lack of ministerial experience on spending most of his time 'disagreeing with New Labour'.
Mr McDonnell rose to prominence as Ken Livingstone's hardline deputy on the Greater London Council, but the pair fell out because he felt Red Ken's policies were not left wing enough.
Mr Livingstone had accused Mr McDonnell, who was then in charge of the GLC's finance committee, of hiding its financial problems, while the new shadow chancellor accused Livingstone of 'bottling' the chance to oppose Margaret Thatcher's budget.
The peace we have now is due to the action of the IRA
John McDonnell
Such is his disdain for the Iron Lady he once admitted he would 'assassinate' her if he could go back to the 1980s during a speech trying to win union backing for his bid to be Labour leader in 2010.
After claiming it was a joke his comrade Jeremy Corbyn, who has now rewarded him for masterminding his leadership campaign, defended him by saying many still felt 'raw' about Thatcher's years as Prime Minister.
His friendship with the new Labour leader was cemented on the backbenches where they were both serial rebels.
He tried to win a Commons seat in 1992 but lost to local Tory Terry Dicks by 53 votes. At the time Mr Dicks also sued for libel over McDonnell's campaign leaflets, and the shadow chancellor settled and paid him £15,000 plus £55,000 legal costs.
After a failed bid to get a seat in 1983, Mr McDonnell, 64, was first elected as MP for Hayes and Harlington at the 1997 general election, with a 13,000 majority.
Mr McDonnell is allies with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams (pictured) and has defended the terror attacked launched by the IRA - including the hunger striker Bobby Sands (whose mural is pictured above)
After the GLC was abolished he had taken a series of senior posts in local government.
When Labour was last in government he rebelled in almost 25 per cent of votes and while in opposition he still voted against his own party on one in 20 occasions.
There were calls for him to be expelled from the party when in 2003 said IRA members should be honoured for their 'armed struggle'.
A photo of him with Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, who had his arm round him, also caused controversy.
Labour distanced itself from after he praised the 'bravery' of the IRA at a commemoration for the hunger striker Bobby Sands in London.
The left-wing MP told the event: 'It's about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle.
'It was the bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands that brought Britain to the negotiating table.
John McDonnell insists Britain's economy would be safer and 'more prosperous' in his hands
'The peace we have now is due to the action of the IRA.'
He then defended his comments: 'The deaths of innocent civilians in IRA attacks is a real tragedy, but it was as a result of British occupation in Ireland.
'Because of the bravery of the IRA and people like Bobby Sands we now have a peace process.'
The controversial MP was suspended from the Commons for five days in 2009 after he picked up the mace during heated exchanges over a third runway at Heathrow.
Mr McDonnell, whose Hayes and Harlington constituency includes the airport, reacted increasingly angrily to Geoff Hoon's comments while he was the Labour spokesman on the matter.
He marched from the back benches down the steps before picking up the mace and placing it on an empty Labour front bench.
In a more recent fiery Commons exchange he declared he would 'swim through vomit' to vote against benefit cuts in defiance of the party line.
He told the Commons: 'I would swim through vomit to vote against the Bill, and listening to some of the nauseating speeches tonight, I think we might have to.'
Last year The Mail revealed details of how Mr McDonnell and attended a comedy night, held in Covent Garden, which featured mocking of the ceramic poppies at the Tower of London and jokes about killing the Royal Family.
But it was Mr McDonnell's remarks that horrified many, where he spoke about visiting Liverpool, where Esther McVey was Minister of State for Employment before her defeat in May.
To applause, he said: 'I spoke at a packed public meeting... a group in the audience completely kicked off quite critical of the whole concept because they were arguing, 'Why are we sacking her? Why aren't we lynching the b******?'
Mr McDonnell is twice married, and has two daughters from his first marriage to Marilyn Cooper before their divorce in 1987.
He has a son with his second wife Cynthia Pinto, who he married in 2005.
According to Who's Who his interests include: 'Gardening, reading, cycling, music, theatre, cinema, Wayfarer dinghy sailing, supporting Liverpool... generally fermenting the overthrow of capitalism'.
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