Socialist Organiser – a newspaper very closely associated with Jeremy Corbyn – published pro-paedophilia articles in the 1980s, Guido can reveal. At the time of the articles’ publication the early 1980s, Corbyn was one of the most senior members of the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory (SCLV). Socialist Organiser was their official newspaper.

Not only did Corbyn regularly write for the paper, he was also listed as a patron, and in December 1979 was elected to the number one spot on SCLV’s Steering Committee, topping the ballot. Socialist Organiser’s mailing address was the office of Hornsey constituency Labour party, where Corbyn served as chairman…

In January 1981, Socialist Organiser published an article by Gerry Byrne, entitled ‘Stop the PIE trial’, which called for the trial of four Executive Committee members of the notorious Paedophile Information Exchange to be halted. The article described the proceedings as “a show trial, where what matters…is the creation of an atmosphere of hysteria, sensationalism, and a public cry for blood”. Corbyn remained closely associated with the paper for years after…

It went on to complain that “digging up an ancient and arbitrary law in order to prevent paedophiles from communicating with each other is in no way a contribution to protecting children, or to dealing with paedophilia constructively and rationally”.

The following edition of Socialist Organiser saw a letter published which went even further. Les Hearn’s letter, entitled “Children’s sexuality”, was an openly pro-paedophilia piece. In it he claims “in this present offensive against paedophiles, the strength of the right lies in the widespread denial of children’s sexuality”.

He went on to write “If the Left is to associate itself with the demand for sexual freedom for the young…then it must take up and discuss the question of paedophilia, since if given a free choice on sexual matters many children might choose to have relationships with adults”.

Finally in the publication, Hearn called for “a full discussion on the Left and in the movements of oppressed groups on the question of child sexuality and whether/how the rights of children can be protected in sexual relationships with adults”.

After Tom O’Carroll, of the Paedophile Information Exchange, was convicted, Socialist Organiser published an editorial defending him. O’Carroll joined the Labour Party in 2016 having been inspired by Corbyn, and was only expelled after a media outcry…