Theresa May heaps praise on Winston Churchill after John McDonnell brands him a 'villain'
3 min read
Theresa May has praised Sir Winston Churchill’s legacy after John McDonnell branded the former Prime Minister a "villain" for his role in putting down a 1910 Welsh miners' strike.
A Number 10 spokesman said Sir Winston's "strong leadership, determination and unwavering personality inspired our country through its darkest hour" during the Second World War.
Mr McDonnell sparked fury when, after being asked by Politico if the wartime Tory leader was "a hero or a villain", he replied: "Tonypandy - villain".
That was a reference to the then-Home Secretary sending troops to control rioting miners in the Rhondda Valley, in a two-day battle which saw one miner killed.
Sir Winston’s grandson, the Conservative MP Nicholas Soames, branded Mr McDonnell “a third-rate, Poundland Lenin” and said his jibe was an attempt to "gain publicity".
In response to the Shadow Chancellor's comments, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said: “The British public will reach its own judgement on this characterisation of Sir Winston Churchill.
“I note that in 2002 he came first in a public poll of the 100 greatest Britons.
“The Prime Minister has quoted and referenced Sir Winston Churchill on many different occasions and acknowledged him as one of the greatest Prime Ministers of the 20th century. She has a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill hung on the wall of her study in Number 10.
“His strong leadership, determination and unwavering personality inspired our country through its darkest hour and helped Britain protect those values of peace and freedom that we hold so dear today."
Meanwhile Leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom, told MPs: “Someone calling Sir Winston Churchill a villain is in effect denigrating the achievements of a man who led this country to potentially its greatest ever contribution to global peace and it’s a great shame that he was described in this way."
Elsewhere, former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who wrote a biography of Sir Winston, tweeted that Mr McDonnell should be "ashamed" of his comments and suggested he withdraw them.
“Winston Churchill saved this country and the whole of Europe from a barbaric fascist and racist tyranny and our debt to him is incalculable," he wrote.
“If John McDonnell had the slightest knowledge of history he would be aware that Churchill also had an extraordinary record as a social reformer who cared deeply for working people and their lives.”
The Shadow Chancellor later clarified his comments, telling ITV that while Sir Winston was a "hero" for his actions in the Second World War, many working-class people remained "angry" about his behaviour.
"He sent the troops into Torypandy to shoot the miners, a miner died, others were injured, it was to break a strike," he said.
"In history there are many complex characters, Churchill has both sides to him, a hero in the Second World War but in many ways for working class families not someone that they looked up to as a result of the actions when he was Home Secretary."
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