John McDonnell suggests Tories could be in power for another decade as he warns Boris Johnson will 'disappoint' northern voters
3 min read
The Conservatives could preside over another "decade of disappointment" that will further their "neglect" of the North of England, John McDonnell has declared.
The Shadow Chancellor, a longstanding ally of Jeremy Corbyn, will tell Labour's North West Regional conference in Southport on Saturday that the Tories face a "red mist" from voters in the North of England if they press ahead with the "political choice" of public spending cuts at next month's Budget.
And, in what will be seen as a gloomy assessment of his own party's prospects at regaining power, he will predict that the country could be "let down" by another ten years of Conservative rule.
In the wake of Labour's bruising general election defeat, Mr McDonnell has been touring the country making the case for his party to continue to fight from the left.
The Shadow Chancellor, who is backing Rebecca Long-Bailey and Richard Burgon as Labour's next leader and deputy leader, has begun a series of seminars arguing for nationalisation and urging his colleagues to "start building the party into a social movement from the grassroots".
He is also expected to set out his thinking on public services and the challenges facing a "socialist Labour government" in his final few months in office.
But speaking on Saturday, Mr McDonnell will warn that the Tories could be in office until 2030 as he questions Boris Johnson's vow to "level up" regions beyond the South East of England and repay Northern voters who switched to the Conservatives in December.
"Our country has had a Conservative decade of decline inflicted on it," he will say.
"Nowhere has been hit harder by the Conservatives’ cuts, neglect and lack of investment than the north.
"From what we have heard from Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings so far, we face the risk of a decade of disappointment to follow."
And he will point to his own Liverpool background to warn: "There has been a lot of talk from the Tories about the supposed 'red wall'.
"As someone born in the north and with much of my family living in the north I caution Johnson and Cummings that they should be more worried about the red mist that will engulf people in the north when they see just how let down they are by the Conservatives."
The Shadow Chancellor's speech comes ahead of the Budget on March 11 and follows reports that the Treasury has ordered all Cabinet ministers to find savings of at least 5% from their departmental budgets ahead of a wider government spending review in the Autumn.
Mr McDonnell will say: "Austerity was always a political choice not an economic necessity.
"The Conservatives chose to cut rather than invest.
"Cuts in our public services have caused immense harm and suffering, hitting everybody with the most vulnerable hit the hardest.
"Failure to invest in our infrastructure has held our country back just at the time investment was needed to modernise our economy and tackle climate change.
"Failure to invest fairly outside of London and the South East has resulted in stark regional inequality.
"We need a budget that ends austerity and a long term investment plan that invests in our infrastructure across the whole country to provide the homes, railways and alternative energy sources we need to tackle climate change."
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