MP, Labour's Shadow
Chancellor, has called on and Chancellor to stop dithering and
launch an international intervention to agree a global
co-ordinated response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying:
“Despite my repeated calls on four occasions in the last
fortnight for the government to work internationally to
co-ordinate a response to the coronavirus, there has been no
leadership and no action from either the Prime Minister or the
Chancellor. It seems Number 10 is following Donald Trump’s lead
yet again.
"We are saying to , bluntly, get off your
backside and show some international leadership. That is what UK
Prime Ministers of all political colours have traditionally
done.
"So far Johnson seems to have self-isolated himself from
his international responsibilities. We are facing the risk of a
global recession so we need global economic co-ordination and a
global economic strategy as Labour secured in the last major
crisis of 2007/8.”
Ends
Notes to Editors:
first called for
international coordination two weeks ago on 28
February: https://twitter.com/johnmcdonnellMP/status/1233471993732837379?s=20h
His five-point economic plan for responding to the
coronavirus was published on 2
March: https://labour.org.uk/press/john-mcdonnell-mp-labours-shadow-chancellor-has-set-out-a-five-point-plan-to-deal-with-the-potential-economic-impact-of-a-coronavirus-outbreak/
His pre-Budget speech, in which he laid out a detailed set
of proposals for international coordination, was on 9
March: https://labour.org.uk/press/john-mcdonnell-speech-ahead-of-budget/
In that speech, the Shadow Chancellor said: “International
coordination was critical during the financial crisis of
2007/8.
“Although it has been reported that there has been some
communication between finance ministers, it’s certainly not clear
that it is of the scale or depth of coordination of
2007/8.
“As a result whatever statements have been made have not
had the effect of steadying markets or reassuring people more
generally that there is an internationally agreed strategy to
address this emergency.
“Whatever criticisms people may have of Gordon Brown’s
policy strategy in the banking crisis, nobody can question the
international leadership he showed and the focus and
determination he brought to dealing with those events
globally.
“I regret that we have not seen that leadership,
commitment, indeed political, diplomatic and indeed managerial
ability from either the Prime Minister or the Chancellor.
“I just say gently, someone needs to get a grip.
“As in the past, the UK could and should play a critical
role in mobilising the international bodies we have, in
particular the UN, to agree a global response to deal not just
with the current wave of this pandemic but the possible
subsequent waves."
reiterated the call in his
response to the Budget on 12
March: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-03-12/debates/1C0AF88B-3EF3-4505-9065-0B0F52FDAA43/BudgetResolutions
