Corbyn denies ‘snub’ to victims of IRA atrocities

‘ This appears to be a blatant and deliberate snub to victims’

JEREMY CORBYN rejected an invitation to meet victims of IRA violence during a visit to Northern Ireland, it has emerged.

Gregory Campbell, a DUP MP, said he made the request to the Labour leader but he refused, saying the schedule for his visit had already been set. Mr Corbyn denied snubbing the victims and insisted Tony Lloyd, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, would meet them instead. However,

Mr Campbell said he had extended the invitation to Mr Corbyn on behalf of victims nearly two weeks ago.

He said: “Jeremy Corbyn is well known for having avoided specific issues relating to terrorism in Northern Ireland. His answer that he ‘condemns all bombing’ when asked about IRA terrorism is somewhat reminiscent, if different in scale, to his comments that he ‘condemns all racism’ when asked about anti-semitism.

“This would have been a very useful opportunity for Mr Corbyn to demonstrate just how willing he is to meet people who live and work in border ar- eas, but whose views he may not have heard face to face before.

“Unfortunately, having emailed the invitation on the morning of May 14, hand-delivered that invitation and personally invited him in a face to face interaction yesterday [Wednesday], I am still without any substantive reply.

“This appears to be a blatant and deliberate snub to innocent victims.”

But Mr Corbyn said: “It is absolutely not a snub. I did receive a letter from Gregory. We had already made the arrangements for this visit.”