John McDonnell co-wrote a pamphlet for a front-group linked to the SWP, which has been accused of covering up incidents of rape and sexual assaults.

John McDonnell co-wrote a pamphlet for a front-group linked to the SWP, which has been accused of covering up incidents of rape and sexual assaults.

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor wrote the forward to ‘Shake the Magic Money Tree’, published in September last year, for ‘Unite the Resistance’, which was set up by SWP members as a front-group following its sexual assault scandal.

McDonnell’s co-author, Sean Vernell, is a member of the SWP who once wrote a plan for the party to rebuild after the cover-up allegations.

The association with the Socialist Workers Party is likely to frustrate many of McDonnell’s prominent supporters, who have previously criticised he and Jeremy Corbyn for attending and speaking at events held by the controversial group.

Journalists Aaron Bastani, Laurie Penny, and Dawn Foster, as well as Black Lives Matter UK, were some of the signatories to a letter calling on Corbyn to boycott a rally organised by the SWP-front group ‘Stand Up To Racism’.

After first promising to drop out, and then attending to speak at the rally, Corbyn came under fire from his most vocal supporters.

Owen Jones called the SWP “a cult which covers up rape” and said “a left politician, however venerated, who speaks at SWP events will swiftly fray the patience of some of their most committed supporters.”

Aaron Bastani tweeted that he was “utterly appalled” by the episode, while Abi Wilkinson wrote that Corbyn needed to “reassure supporters that it would never happen again”. All of whom will likely be frustrated by the Labour leadership continuing commitment to the SWP.

The far-left party have been toxic since 2013, when two women accused a senior figure in the party of rape. The 17 year-old alleged victim was asked to testify in front of a ‘kangeroo court’ set up by the party’s central committee, which announced their verdict of ‘not guilty’ at the party’s conference later that year.