More Deputy Leader demagoguery

Although Madame Mao has not been directly canvassed over the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party it is clear that she has been much in the thoughts of the left candidate, John McDonnell MP.

Benedict Brogan in the Mail reports in his blog yesterday that McDonnell's hands across the Irish Sea approach to power sharing may cause some trouble for Peter Hain, with whom he is reportedly engaged in some horsetrading over nominations . McDonnell apparently said in 2003 that:

"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. The peace we have now is due to the action of the IRA"

I'm sure this would go down a treat with Rev. Ian Paisley the new First Minister of Northern Ireland who Hain was pictured guffawing with alongside Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair and Martin McGuiness at the swearing in ceremony last week.

Given that the Chairman ran guns out of Beijing to just about every freedom movement going throughout the sixties and seventies it would seem that McDonnell his something of a visionary when it comes to foreign policy.