Shadow chancellor praises Imperial on visit
John McDonnell was on campus last week
MP and shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, visited Imperial this week, where he gave a speech acclaiming Imperial’s role in science and innovation. This visit comes only two weeks after George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, visited Imperial’s White City campus, where he said Imperial represented “the future of our economy here in the UK”.
The Labour MP made his speech from ‘the Incubator’, which offers leases of office and lab space to new companies.
In his speech, Mr McDonnell called the new Imperial West campus a “tremendous initiative” and mentioned his particular excitement, as the member of parliament for a West London constituency.
On arrival, he said: “What an inspiring place this is to speak about the future of the economy… at Imperial College’s Incubator, where start-ups and entrepreneurs are working alongside the leading minds in science.” The Labour front bencher went on to emphasise the importance of new technology in developing the UK’s economy, with the Incubator being a prime example of this.
The MP spoke of how his generation had taken free education and affordable housing for granted, questioning why years after the advances several different governments had made, the MP’s grandchildren would have a less secure future than him. Citing “new hope” under Jeremy Corbyn, with “new economics” and a “sustainable society”, he criticised austerity and the big corporations whose actions go unhindered under current policy.
Praising Imperial for showing people how science, technology, and innovation are shaping “our new world”, the shadow chancellor added that the Labour Party would work with businesses and universities to help deliver his vision. He also pledged to increase the amount the UK spends on research as a share of GDP, to bring it in line with levels seen in France, Germany and the US.
On Wednesday, McDonnell waved a copy of Chairman Mao’s ‘little red book’ at George Osborne in the House of Commons, in protest of the move to sell state assets to China. George Osborne had previously shown China’s President, Xi Jinping, around Imperial on a state visit.
