John McDonnell is drawing up plans to encourage more community land trusts — a form of mutual society — to own property and develop low-cost homes.
The shadow chancellor wants to publish a report in the new year looking at how to expand the idea further. Mr McDonnell outlined the plan during a speech on Monday evening in north London, when he said he wanted to see “the collective ownership of land”.
That phrase raised concerns that the Labour MP, a former Marxist, wants to pursue the communal ownership of land, an idea normally associated with communist regimes.
