Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell gives speech under Stalinist and Assad regime flags – but crops them out of his tweet
LABOUR'S John McDonnell has cropped out Stalinist and Assad flags from his tweets about a May Day speech he gave yesterday.
The Shadow Chancellor was slammed for addressing crowd underneath communist and Assad flags to mark International Workers' Day.
He was pictured in Trafalgar Square addressing a rally – alongside hundreds of hard-left activists.
But when Mr McDonnell posted a picture of the speech on Twitter, he cropped out some of the controversial flags.
His shot just showed a banner about trade union rights and unity.
Activists at the rally brandished flares and hundreds of police were called to ensure the demonstration didn't get out of hand.
Crowds chanted "class against class" and called out "Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin!".
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Some carried pictures of Joseph Stalin, the communist dictator who killed millions during his time as leader of the USSR.
Labour MP Neil Coyle told MailOnline: "Assad apologists and other Communist airbrushers should have no part in the Labour Party."
A spokesperson later said they did not know that the flags would be displayed.
The Shadow Chancellor told crowds: "This is our opportunity brothers and sisters. Some of us have worked for this for all our lives. The message is this: Carpe Diem. Seize the moment. This is our chance. Take it brothers and sisters. Solidarity."
And he promised his party would protect workers rights if it won the June election – and called on them to back Jeremy Corbyn.
But Labour are currently trailing the Tories by up to 20 points in the polls.
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