Diane Abbott blows hole in Jeremy Corbyn’s claim not to have met IRA members by admitting he spent time with them in their ‘capacity as Sinn Fein activists’
Labour leader’s close ally appeared to confirm he had shared platforms with terrorists - just hours after he claimed never to have done so
DIANE Abbott has blown a massive hole in Jeremy Corbyn’s ludicrous claim not to have met any IRA members by admitting he did spend time with them – but only in their “capacity as activists in Sinn Fein”.
The Labour leader’s close ally appeared to confirm he had shared platforms with Republican terrorists - just hours after he claimed never to have done so.
In an interview last night Mr Corbyn told the BBC he never met with the IRA during his involvement in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
He said: “I obviously did meet people from Sinn Féin as indeed I met people from other organisations, and I always made the point that there had to be a dialogue and a peace process.”
But it later emerged he hooked up with members at least seven times between 1984 and 2009, and just two weeks after the Brighton bombing in 1984 invited two members of the Provisional IRA, Linda Quigley and Gerard McLoughlin, to parliament.
Ms Abbott, appearing on LBC this morning, also confirmed Mr Corbyn shared platforms with Brendan McKenna, who was jailed for his role in bombing the British Legion hall in Portadown, and Raymond McCartney, a member of the Provisional IRA.
She tried to explain it away by saying: “I think, his understanding is, he met with them in a capacity as activists in Sinn Fein.”
MOST READ IN POLITICS
Asked if Corbyn’s denial that he had ever met the IRA was a “deliberate lie”, the Shadow Home Secretary said: “I think we have to distinguish from being on a platform with people and conducting private meetings.”
And she went on to compare her party leader’sCorbyn's links with the Republican movement to how Tony Blair reached out to Sinn Fein to bring about peace.
But Ms Abbott’s comments were blasted by Boris Johnson, who said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s lies have been exposed by his own shadow home secretary.”
The Foreign Secretary added: “Just hours after Corbyn claimed he had never met the IRA, Diane Abbott says he did – and she disgracefully sought to defend it.
“It is increasingly clear that Jeremy Corbyn will make up anything in an attempt to mislead voters.
“He’s pretending he didn’t support the IRA, just like he is pretending he won’t raise taxes and pretending he will replace our Trident nuclear deterrent.
“The risks of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister, in charge of our Brexit negotiations and our security, are enormous.
“And Jeremy Corbyn would make Diane Abbott Home Secretary – putting a woman who refused to outlaw al-Qaeda and wants open door immigration in charge of our security and our borders.”