When British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne submitted a new government spending program this past Wednesday, the Labour Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer caused a stir by quoting Mao’s Little Red Book in his arguments against the plan.

The plan sets out spending limits for the next five years for various government departments. After Osbourne presented the plan, McDonnell gave a speech reviewing the plan. During his speech, he unexpectedly pulled a copy of Mao’s Little Red Book out of his jacket pocket.

McDonnell said that he was going to read a quote from Mao. This caused an uproar, and Speaker John Bercow was forced to intervene to quiet the Conservative benches.

“We must learn to do economic work from all who know how,” McDonnell read from the book. “No matter who they are, we must esteem them as teachers, learning from them respectfully and conscientiously. But we must not pretend to know what we do not know.”

Osbourne responded, “The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer is actually standing there, reading from Mao’s Little Red Book. But the problem is that half of the members of the shadow cabinet have been sent to re-education.” This past May, a number of Labour shadow cabinet members failed to win re-election to Parliament.

A spokesperson later told the media that McDonald’s stunt with Mao’s Little Red Book was, “just a joke.”

Source: ifeng.com

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Keywords: George Mao’s Little Red Book Osbourne John McDonnell