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Agence France-Presse

Britain's Labour Party has been accused of lurching left since Jeremy Corbyn became leader, so when one of his key allies started quoting Mao Zedong's Little Red Book in parliament Wednesday, Conservative opponents were delighted.
John McDonnell, the main opposition's finance spokesman, was giving his party's response to finance minister George Osborne's budget update in the House of Commons when he pulled out a copy of the Chinese revolutionary leader's book of quotations, in what was intended to be a humorous stunt.
WATCH: Mao's Little Red Book brandished in UK Parliament

McDonnell started off by joking that it would assist  Osborne, who is pushing for Britain to have closer economic ties with China, in “dealing with his new-found comrades”.
Then he added: “I’ve brought him along Mao’s Little Red Book,” whipping the book from his suit pocket, to howls of laughter from both side of the chamber, and even the Speaker, John Bercow, who called for order saying "I want to hear about the contyents of this book!".
“Let me quote from Mao, rarely done in this chamber," said McDonnell. "'We must learn to do economic work from all who know how.
“'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’.”

McDonnell then threw the book across the table between the Labour side and the government towards Osborne saying “I thought this might come in handy”.
Prime Minister David Cameron's finance minister had just announced a fresh round of deep cuts to public spending, designed to shrink Britain's budget deficit.
Lawmakers from his centre-right Conservative party roared with delight at McDonnell's move, aware it would fuel perceptions of him and Corbyn, who became Labour leader in September, as radical leftwingers.
“So the shadow chancellor literally stood at the despatch box and read out from Mao's Little Red Book,” Osborne said in response, adding: “Oh look! It's his personal signed copy” as he opened it.
“The problem is half the shadow cabinet have been sent off for re-education,” he added grinning, referring to deep splits in the opposition party since far-left veteran Jeremy Corbyn took over its leadership this year.
Mao’s best known sayings, contained in his famous book - properly known as Quotations From Chairman Mao Zedong - include: “Political power grows from the barrel of a gun” and “To read too many books is harmful”.
Interviewed on Wednesday evening on the BBC, McDonnell denied that his stunt had backfired and rejected the interviewer’s suggestion that it had been in poor taste because so many people had died under Mao’s regime.
McDonnell said that he had simply been “ribbing” the government about its asset sales, including “to the Chinese”.
Additional reporting by Reuters


Mao’s Little Red Book makes surprise appearance in UK parliament

Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell quotes from Mao's famous book of quotations. Photo: Reuters

Government members including Prime Minister David Cameron (second right) listen with delight as John McDonnell makes a point, having tossed a copy of Mao's "Little Red Book" onto the table. Photo: Reuters

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