Anger at Corbyn’s fresh call for united Ireland
JEREMY Corbyn last night restated his support for a united Ireland as he prepared for a controversial trip to Belfast. Mr Corbyn – who once observed a minute’s silence for members of an IRA gang killed by the SAS in Gibraltar – will make his first visit to Northern Ireland today since becoming Labour leader.
He is a longstanding ally of Sinn Fein and, speaking ahead of the trip, his spokesman said he remained committed to the idea of a united Ireland – a policy that would break up the UK.
The spokesman added: ‘Over the years he has made his position
‘A deep lack of respect’
clear that the majority of people across the whole island of Ireland wanted to see that outcome – a united Ireland. But in the context of the Good Friday Agreement that can only come about through the constitutional process that is laid down in the agreement, and Jeremy fully supports that.’
Under the Good Friday Agreement, a united Ireland can be brought about only with the majority consent of people in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Mr Corbyn will give a speech today at Queen’s University, Belfast, where he will attempt to exploit the Irish border issue to pursue Labour’s aim to keep the UK in a customs union with the EU after Brexit. The choice of venue is controversial as it was the site of the IRA’s 1983 murder of Protestant law lecturer Edgar Graham.
Tory deputy chairman James Cleverly said the visit showed ‘a callousness and deep lack of respect’, adding: ‘Corbyn gave cover to the IRA while they were bombing and shooting our citizens.’
Mr Corbyn said last year he ‘never supported the IRA’, but as a backbencher he was close to Sinn Fein throughout the Troubles and shared platforms with convicted terrorists. In 1984, a decade before the first IRA ceasefire, he met with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.
The Labour leader will suggest that Tory Brexit plans are a threat to the current peace, and in a speech is due to say: ‘Opposition to the idea of bringing back a hard border to this land isn’t just about avoiding paperwork or tariffs, it’s about deep-rooted cultural and community ties. An open border is a symbol of peace, two communities living and working together after years of conflict, communities who no longer feel that their traditions are under threat.’
DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was ‘not surprised Jeremy Corbyn still holds outdated views’ on reunification, and urged the Labour leader to use today’s visit to speak out against the Troubles, adding: ‘I hope he makes clear to an audience of young people that the violence of the past was wrong and that violence in the future would be wrong too.’
Mr Corbyn’s spokesman said that during his visit he would seek to ‘engage with all communities and people across Northern Ireland’ on both the peace process and Brexit, as well as ‘the need for a transformation of the economy in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the UK in a way that works for all communities’.
Downing Street last night rejected the call for a united Ireland.