Is John McDonnell distancing himself from George Galloway?

Since Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader, the party has been dogged by rumours that George Galloway could rejoin the party. The Respect party leader — who was expelled in 2003 following his outspoken comments on the Iraq war — has called for his expulsion to be rescinded. Corbyn has refused to rule out such a move, while Galloway claims that he speaks to Corbyn’s director of comms Seumas Milne — who he describes as his ‘best friend’ — on a regular basis.

However, in a sign that not everyone may be so on board with such a move, Corbyn’s close comrade John McDonnell has made a hire that is unlikely to sit well with Galloway. The shadow chancellor has appointed Naz Shah as his Parliamentary Private Secretary.

Privileged to have been appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Shadow Chancellor @johnmcdonnellMP https://t.co/Hi8ixt7JWO

— Naz Shah MP 💙 (@NazShahBfd) February 9, 2016