John McDonnell set to host “where next for Labour?” seminars

John McDonnell has announced that he will be hosting a series of “where next for Labour?” seminars, for members to discuss the future of the Labour Party.

The Shadow Chancellor emailed party members notifying them of the first event of the series, taking place in parliament on January 27th at 6.30pm.

This first seminar is entitled: “Why ownership matters – the rationale for extending public ownership, how it works and where next?”

Speakers include the founder of We Own It, Cat Hobbs; the director of the public services international research unit at Greenwich University, Dave Hall; and the director of Common Wealth – Matt Lawrence.

McDonnell wrote: “There has been much discussion about the role of Labour’s manifesto, the electoral impact of individual policies and how they were communicated.”

He added: “I am hosting a series of seminars to explore these questions and to discuss where next for Labour.”

The Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington launched his “new economics” seminars in 2016 on topics ranging from inequality in the UK, to technology and work.

The stated aim of the talks were to foster discussion with the public about economic ideas that would help inform the policy-making process of the party.

Notable speakers attended successive events, including Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister for Greece.

This latest seminar due to take place next week has been advertised to Labour members and is fully booked.

The discussion comes after Jeremy Corbyn called for “a period of reflection” following the election defeat last month, in which Labour lost 60 seats.

The MP for Islington North announced that he would be stepping down after a leadership election – the contest is currently ongoing and will end on April 4th.

John McDonnell has backed Rebecca Long-Bailey to replace Corbyn, and Richard Burgon for the deputy leader position.