YOUR correspondent, Arthur Nicolaas, seeks to perpetuate the myth used extensively in most of the mainstream media, and of course by the Tory party, that anyone trying to change things for the better such as the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell is a bad person.

He has consistently refuted claims levelled at him and apologised unreservedly for any ‘off the cuff’ remarks made in the distant past which may have offended some people.  

His call for ‘a million people on the streets’ in support of a demonstration organised by The Peoples’ Assembly on July 1st in London, should be welcomed as upholding the tradition of peoples’ democratic right to peaceful protest in this country.

Whilst protest marches almost inevitably attract some “nutters bent on crime”, these are always a tiny minority which the afore-mentioned media gleefully accept as a gift to enable them to denigrate the peaceful majority and, indeed, to distract from the reason for the protest.

To suggest that John McDonnell is encouraging these “nutters” is, frankly, libellous. 

He has actually stated that people have, “got the right if they want to be angry, but they haven’t got the right to be violent”, and, “all protest has got to be peaceful and if you want to see what effective protest is all about I tell you follow the lead of Gandhi, not others”.

Sounds like a good egg to me!

Nicholas Fisher
Prospect Street
Newport