John McDonnell warned he could be KICKED OUT of Labour over Stop the War Ukraine demo

John McDonnell has been warned he faces following close ally Jeremy Corbyn into the political wilderness over plans to address a Ukraine war demo tonight.

The hard-Left former shadow chancellor is due to speak alongside Mr Corbyn at a Stop the War Coalition (StWC) event in London this evening.

The organisation has been criticised for attacks on Nato and British support for the country before it was brutally invaded by Vladimir Putin’s Russian army.  

Now Mr McDonnell, the MP for Hayes and Harlington has been told he will lose the labour whip if he attends tonight’s rally at Conway Hall.

Among the others speakers listed are Mr Corbyn and Chris Hazzard, a Sinn Fein MP, plus Jess Barnard, the chairwoman of Young Labour who has attacked Keir Starmer over his support for Nato.

Under Sir Keir, Labour has taken an increasingly hard line on dissent over the invasion by Russia.

A source told the Huffington Post: ‘If he goes, he’ll lose the whip. Any Labour MPs who speak at anything that is anti-Nato from now on are likely to be out.’ 

The hard-Left former shadow chancellor is due to speak alongside Mr Corbyn at a Stop the War Coalition (StWC) event in London this evening.

Among the others speakers listed are Mr Corbyn (above) and Chris Hazzard, a Sinn Fein MP.

Last week, Sir Keir attacked Mr Corbyn directly over his opposition to Nato, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Sir Keir said that Mr Corbyn was ‘wrong’ to oppose expansion of the defensive organisation to take in former Soviet states in Eastern Europe.

Mr Corbyn, who has sat as an independent since October 2020 after having the Labour whip removed, joined 11 party MPs including Mr McDonnell to blast Nato and UK ‘aggression’ ahead of Vladimir Putin’s brutal assault.

The Labour MPs, all supporters of the former leader, were later forced to disown the Stop the War Coalition campaign after Mr Starmer threatened to also boot them out of the parliamentary party. 

They all capitulated quickly, with a source saying: ‘An hour after being told to, all these grandstanders have withdrawn their signatures. Let there be no doubt whose party this is now.’ 

The letter was signed by Diane Abbott, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Ian Lavery, Beth Winter, Zarah Sultana, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Apsana Begum, Mick Whitley, Tahir Ali, and Ian Mearns.

Mr Corbyn also signed the letter, as did MP Claudia Webbe, who also now sit as  an independent.

Asked on Sky News about the former Labour leader’s stance on stopping the expansion of Nato, Sir Keir said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn was wrong about that but the Labour Party’s policy never shifted under his leadership and I’ve been very clear.’

Mr McDonnell has been approached to comment.