Journalist who praised attacks on UK troops is new spin chief
A JOURNALIST who has defended acts of terrorism and praised attacks on British troops has been appointed as Jeremy Corbyn’s top spin doctor.
Seumas Milne has been granted leave from his job as associate editor of The Guardian to take up the role of executive director of strategy and communications for the Labour leader.
Only two days after the 9/11 attacks, public-school educated Mr Milne, 57, wrote an article declaring that Americans ‘can’t see why they are hated’.
He claimed attacks on British troops in Iraq were part of a ‘war of liberation’ which would reduce the risk of Western countries sending soldiers to another state. And in his previous role as comment editor, he published an article by Osama bin Laden ‘urging jihad’.
Mr Milne has also said that the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in 2013 couldn’t be seen as terrorism ‘in the normal sense’. It is expected that he will write Mr Corbyn’s speeches as well as help him devise policy. Yesterday moderate Labour MPs responded to the news with dismay. John Woodcock, MP for Barrow, tweeted: ‘It’s hard to see how this appointment can be seen as valid unless he renounces his documented sympathy for terrorism.’
Labour released a statement saying Mr Milne would start his job next Monday. The salary he has accepted to carry out the role has not been made public.