Anger at new Corbyn call for Ireland to be reunited

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 clear that the majority of people across the 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 try 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 murder in 1983 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

‘Callousness and a lack of respect’

throughout the Troubles and shared platforms with convicted terrorists. In 1984, a decade before the first IRA ceasefire, he met Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.

The Labour leader will suggest Tory Brexit plans are a threat to the peace, and in a speech is due to say: ‘An open border is a symbol of peace, two communities living and working together after years of conflict, communities who no longer feel their traditions are under threat.’

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was ‘not surprised Jeremy Corbyn still holds outdated views’ on reunification.

Downing Street last night rejected the united Ireland call.