It is understood Labour leader has expressed interest in campaign of families and supports their efforts to get justice

Jeremy Corbyn would like to speak to the families of victims killed in the IRA Hyde Park bombing, the Guardian has learned, as accusations surrounding the Labour leader’s past links to the organisation continue to dog the party.

Relatives of the four soldiers killed in the IRA attack in July 1982 are engaged in a fundraising campaign to finance a legal action against the only suspect connected to the bombing, John Downey.

The loved ones of those killed in the explosion had complained they did not receive a reply to a letter they sent to the Labour leader last month.

But it is understood that Corbyn is interested in learning more about the campaign, speaking to the families and supporting them in their efforts to access the justice system.

A Labour spokeswoman said: “Jeremy is committed to seeing truth and justice for all victims of Northern Ireland’s violent and tragic past and believes the best way to achieve this is to see the full implementation of the Stormont House agreement legacy bodies.

“Labour is determined to tackle barriers to the legal system, ensuring that everyone has access to justice.”

The Hyde Park Justice Campaign issued a letter on Monday calling on the Labour leader to take a stand against the outgoing government’s decision not to fund their civil action against Downey.



Mark Tipper, whose 19-year-old brother Simon was one of the four soldiers killed, said he wrote to Corbyn a month ago seeking his help.

In his letter Tipper writes: “More than 20 MPs and Lords from all parties, including your own, turned out at a meeting in parliament to show their support for our cause. Why do they speak out when you will not?”

Referring to recently raised allegations that Corbyn supported the IRA campaign during the Troubles – a charge the Labour leader rebuffs – Tipper said: “Despite the series of reports over the years containing allegations about your support for the IRA, we hoped it could not be true that a leader of the opposition in this country, who could one day be prime minister, would possibly support terrorists and the murder of innocent men, women and children.

“Therefore, we still believed you might do the right thing and discharge your duty and stand up to the government in its failure to bring Downey to trial.”

Downey was originally charged with the murders of trooper Simon Tipper, L/Cpl Jeffrey Young, Cpl Roy Bright and Lt Anthony Daly when a bomb packed with nails exploded as the Blues and Royals soldiers rode to the changing of the guard ceremony in Hyde Park on 20 July 1982.

Downey had been arrested at Gatwick airport in 2013 on his way to a sailing holiday in Greece. The case against him was based on fingerprint evidence from car-park tickets found near Hyde Park. But the case collapsed a year later when Downey’s legal team produced a so-called ‘on the run’/‘get out of jail’ card which the court believed gave the Donegal man an amnesty for past crimes connected to the Troubles.

The so-called ‘on the run’ letters to 187 IRA suspects, many of whom were wanted for atrocities such as the Poppy Day massacre of 1987 in Enniskillen, were granted by Tony Blair’s government as a means of winning Sinn Féin support for devolution and new policing structures in Northern Ireland.

It later transpired that the ‘on the run’ letters actually had no legal foundation and that the Police Service of Northern Ireland had to apologise for mistakenly sending the letter to Downey, creating the false impression that it was legally binding.

In response to the collapse of the criminal trial the victims’ families have launched the campaign to finance a civil action against Downey. They are raising cash via their website and through the Sun newspaper.

Their campaign is modelled on the success of the Omagh bomb civil action, in which relatives of the 29 people killed in the 1998 Real IRA massacre sued a number of men in a Belfast court who they said were behind the plot.



In a landmark 2013 ruling, two men, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly, were found responsible for the atrocity. A criminal case against Daly in connection to Omagh however was dropped last year by Northern Ireland’s public prosecution service.

Earlier, the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, challenged Corbyn to condemn the IRA after claiming the Labour leader failed to do so in an interview with Sky News on Sunday. Brokenshire’s comments were passed on by a reporter from the Sun during the launch of Labour’s arts manifesto in Hull.

Asked whether he condemned the IRA as terrorists, Corbyn said: “I condemn all acts of violence in Northern Ireland wherever they came. I spent the whole of the 1980s representing constituencies with large numbers of Irish people in them. We wanted peace, we wanted justice, we wanted a solution. The first ceasefire helped to bring that about those talks which represented all sections of the community of Northern Ireland.



“The Labour government of 1997 helped bring in the historic Good Friday agreement the basis of which was a recognition of the differing cultural histories and values of Northern Ireland. It stood the test of time and it’s still there. We have a devolved administration. We should recognise that that peace was achieved by a lot of bravery both in the unionist and in the nationalist community.”

</s>Corbyn is an enabler, and a communist who gladly cheers on the deaths of innocent people for his political gain, this is why if you vote for him, you are as much a scumbag as he is.

In the 1980s, Jeremy Corbyn was heavily involved with London Labour Briefing – a hard-left magazine which celebrated the Brighton bomb and joked about the death of Conservative MPs.

There is evidence that Mr Corbyn was involved in the magazine, which praised the bomb designed to kill Margaret Thatcher in an article that read: “The British only sit up and take notice [of Ireland] when they are bombed into it” and “What do you call four dead Tories? A start”.

The MI5 have whole dossiers on Jeremy Corbyn, as he is viewed as an insurgent and terrorist collaborator as well as an extremist.

The evil of Corbyn does not stop at his refusal to condemn IRA bombings, but his nonchalance at the deaths of women and children during the troubles.

Even, Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, declared her support for the IRA and claimed “every defeat of the British state is a victory for all of us”.

Where was Corbyn during the 1998 Omagh IRA bombing, which killed 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) as well as injuring some 220 others?

Where was Corbyn during the Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombings on 20 July 1982 in London? Where the terrorists of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated two bombs during British military ceremonies in Hyde Park and Regent’s Park.

The explosions killed 11 military personnel: four soldiers of the Blues & Royals at Hyde Park, and seven bandsmen of the Royal Green Jackets at Regent’s Park. Seven of the Blues & Royals’ horses also died in the attack.

Jeremy Corbyn was laughing in the pub. He was most probably in the pub with his terrorist friends celebrating the deaths of the innocent people in the bombs.

You want to vote for Jeremy Corbyn and his ridiculous flawed election bribes which will create another mountain of unpayable debt. Fuck you, if you vote for that scum, you are worthless, a coward who revels in the deaths of innocent women and children, and a traitor who will bring this country into economic hell once again under Labour.

A vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party is a vote for terrorism, lies and champagne socialist hypocrisy. You are obviously an ignorant communist following terrorist sympathiser to vote for Corbyn. You should hang your head in shame at being duped into such insanity.

A vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party is a vote for dead British babies lying on the pavement, dismembered by IRA nail bombs, their guts spewed over their dead mothers, and their flesh torn apart.

You can either wake up now, and smell the coffee from the vantage point of your sheer ignorance in following this dangerous evil man, or you can carry on in your brainwashed manner as the electoral bribes carry on daily from a party that supports terrorism.

It is your choice.</s>Jeremy Corbyn refused to condemn the IRA in an interview with Sky News on Sunday.

When asked by journalist Sophy Ridge if he would "unequivocally" condemn the Irish Republican Army, he instead denounced only their violent actions, replying: "Look, bombing is wrong, all bombing is wrong, of course I condemn it."

Ridge pushed for a direct condemnation of the group as a whole six times.The IRA was an Irish parliamentary organisation that fought for a unified Ireland, aiming to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom. The group often resorted to terrorism, with car bombings and other violent attacks killing hundreds.

The IRA was an Irish parliamentary organisation that fought for a unified Ireland, aiming to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom. The group often resorted to terrorism, with car bombings and other violent attacks killing hundreds.

According to The Telegraph, the MI5 opened a file on then-Labour backbencher Jeremy Corbyn in the 90s amid concerns over his links to the organisation.

The publication claims the politician had links to the bomb-maker thought to be behind the Hyde Park and Regent's Park attacks, which killed 11 people in total.

The report also says Corbyn shared a platform with an IRA killer and, according to John McDonnell, used to "pin people against the wall" in the House of Commons to lobby them on behalf of Ireland.

Speaking to Sky News, he insisted his backing of high-profile IRA figures was key to achieving peace in Northern Ireland.

"I recognised that you had to bring about a peace process in Ireland. I did my best to assist in that process... You have to talk to people with whom you don't agree," he said, noting that he met and worked with both loyalists and IRA figures.

Despite The Telegraph's claims, support for Corbyn and the Labour Party has been surging.

The most recent polls show it trailing just nine points behind the Conservatives, a significant improvement in comparison to earlier figures.</s>Mr Corbyn, interjecting, replied: "No, I think what you have to say is all bombing has to be condemned and you have to bring about a peace process.

Ms Ridge noted: "But you're condemning all bombing there, can you condemn the IRA without equating it to..."

Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday asked if he could condemn unequivocally the IRA, Mr Corbyn said: "Bombing is wrong, of course all bombing is wrong and of course I condemn it."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has defended his links with IRA associated rallies in the 1980s, saying that it had been necessary to bring about a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.

"In the 1980s Britain was looking for a military solution in Ireland. It clearly was never going to work. Ask anyone in the British army at that time.

"Therefore you have to seek a peace process. You condemn the violence of those that laid bombs that killed large of numbers of innocent people and I do."

Pressed to condemn the IRA, Mr Corbyn said: "I've just condemned all those that did bombing, all those, all those on both sides that laid bombs."

Asked again to condemn the IRA without equating it to the deaths caused by British security services, Mr Corbyn said: "And there were loyalist bombs as well, which you haven't mentioned.

"I condemn all the bombing by the both loyalists and the IRA."

Security minister Ben Wallace, a former army officer who served in Northern Ireland, said: "People up and down the country will rightly be outraged that Jeremy Corbyn won't unequivocally condemn the IRA for the bloodshed, bombs and brutal murders they inflicted on a generation of innocent people.

"Jeremy Corbyn has spent a lifetime siding with Britain's enemies, but he and his extreme views could be leading our country and representing it abroad - negotiating with 27 EU countries in just over two weeks' time.

"And it's the British people who will pay for this for generations."</s>Kezia Dugdale has insisted Jeremy Corbyn is not an IRA apologist as she rejected claims that his views on republican terrorism mean he is not fit to be Prime Minister.

The Scottish Labour leader argued Mr Corbyn’s comments during a TV interview at the weekend, when he repeatedly refused to condemn the IRA, had been misinterpreted.

She said that her party had delivered the Good Friday Agreement, only to change tack when it was pointed out that John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, had opposed it at the time.

The Conservatives said it was “staggering” that Ms Dugdale would not criticise the Labour leader’s decades-long links with extreme Irish republicans. The Telegraph disclosed on Saturday that MI5 had opened a file on Mr Corbyn because of his relations with the IRA.

The row overshadowed the launch of Scottish Labour’s manifesto, which Ms Dugdale used to make a direct appeal to voters in the slew of seats her party lost to the SNP in the 2015 General Election.

It contained plans for £3 billion of extra Scottish spending, partly funded by a £690 million increase in the income tax burden north of the Border. The basic rate would increase to 21p, the higher rate to 41p and an additional rate of 50p would be levied on income above £150,000.

The 120-page manifesto document also rejected a second independence referendum and backed the renewal of Trident despite Scottish Labour opposing the move. It said this was UK party policy and defence was a reserved issue.</s>Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire has rounded on Jeremy Corbyn for his "IRA sympathies".

Mr Brokenshire accused the Labour leader and his party colleagues, shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, of having "extremely worrying views" about IRA terrorism.

Mr Corbyn has come under fire for refusing to single out the IRA for condemnation when pressed over his past campaigning activities during a television interview on Sunday.

The Labour leader said "all bombing is wrong", as he was repeatedly asked to condemn the IRA alone for its role in the Troubles.

He said he had worked hard to help secure peace in Northern Ireland.

But Mr Brokenshire - who prior to the calling of the General Election had been facilitating talks between Stormont's Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party in a bid to restore powersharing - demanded Mr Corbyn and his top team "come clean about their true attitudes towards IRA terrorism".

He accused Mr Corbyn of having a "long political career of sympathy for the IRA cause".

"I have listened with interest and concern to the various attempts by Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell to explain their attitudes towards IRA terrorism during the 1980s and 1990s.

"Their complete failure unequivocally to condemn terrorism, and to attempt to contextualise it, are deeply worrying coming from two people who in just over two weeks seek to be entrusted with the security of the United Kingdom," said Mr Brokenshire.

He said the Labour leader and his top team need to make clear if they believe the IRA were terrorists, if their activities should be condemned and if they regarded members of the Armed Forces and the IRA as "equivalent" participants during the Troubles.

Mr Corbyn's campaigning during the Troubles has come under renewed scrutiny since his election as Labour Party leader.

He and shadow chancellor John McDonnell have been prominent supporters of Sinn Fein.

Before the IRA ceasefire, they controversially met the party on a number of occasions in Westminster during the 1990s.

The Labour leader has said the meetings formed part of his attempt to bring about peace in Northern Ireland at that time.

He has also been criticised over his activities with the Troops Out movement, which campaigned to end British military involvement in Northern Ireland in the 1980s.</s>Jeremy Corbyn has condemned "all acts of violence from wherever they came" during the Troubles in the North, but declined to specifically denounce the IRA as terrorists.

The UK Labour leader spoke after Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire accused him of having "IRA sympathies" and urged him to make clear whether he believes the group were terrorists and if their actions should be "unequivocally" condemned.

Mr Corbyn has come under fire for refusing to single out the IRA for condemnation when pressed over his past campaigning activities, and he again refused to mention them specifically.

Mr Brokenshire's questions were put to Mr Corbyn by a reporter after the Labour leader gave a speech in Hull.

Mr Corbyn said: "I condemn all acts of violence in Northern Ireland from wherever they came.

"I spent the whole of the 1980s representing a constituency with a large number of Irish people in it, we wanted peace, we wanted justice, we wanted a solution.

"The ceasefire, the first ceasefire, helped to bring that about, and bring about those talks, which were representative of all sections of opinion in Northern Ireland."

The Labour government after 1997 helped to bring in the historic Good Friday Agreement, the basis of which was the recognition of the differing cultural histories and values of the North, and it stood the test of time and it's still there, he added.

"We have devolved administration in Northern Ireland and I think we should recognise that that peace was achieved by a lot of bravery, both in the unionist community as well as in the nationalist community - people that walked a very difficult extra mile when they were under pressure from their communities not to do so - both republicans and unionists walked that extra mile and brought us the Good Friday Agreement.

"And I think we should use this election as thanking those that brought about the Good Friday Agreement."

Mr Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell have faced scrutiny over their association with Irish republicans.

Before the IRA ceasefire, they controversially met Sinn Fein a number of times in Westminster during the 1990s.

The row over the pair's past activities has prompted the intervention of Gerry Adams and Bertie Ahern, both highly significant figures in the era.

Sinn Fein president Mr Adams said Mr Corbyn was "on the right side of history" in supporting Irish republicans and had respected the party's democratic mandate.

"What he did was very modest, what he did was very fundamental," Mr Adams said.

Former Taoiseach Mr Ahern, who worked with former prime minister Tony Blair and Northern politicians to secure the 1998 Good Friday Agreement - which largely ended 30 years of trouble in the North - warned against digging up "any of the enmities, animosities of the past".

The retired Dublin politician told ITV's Good Morning Britain programme: "Of course we all condemn the violence of all sides in the past and we want to move on.

"Jeremy Corbyn, I think, always kept the door open to Sinn Fein during those difficult days, but we want to get away from the violence of the past and hopefully that never returns."

Mr McDonnell has apologised for comments he made praising the IRA's "bravery" in 2003.

After becoming Labour leader in 2015, Mr Corbyn defended reaching out to republicans during the Troubles - insisting he wanted the violence to stop.

But Mr Brokenshire said: "I have listened with interest and concern to the various attempts by Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell to explain their attitudes towards IRA terrorism during the 1980s and 1990s.

"Their complete failure unequivocally to condemn terrorism, and to attempt to contextualise it, are deeply worrying coming from two people who in just over two weeks seek to be entrusted with the security of the United Kingdom."

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster said Mr Corbyn's refusal to denounce the IRA as terrorists was "abhorrent" .

Northern Ireland's former first minister told a meeting of the Bruges Group in central London: "Here we have a man who is putting himself forward to lead our nation and yet he cannot condemn an organisation which was taking away the fundamental human rights of British citizens living not just in Northern Ireland but right across the United Kingdom.

"I think he has put himself outside the political pale - I think it is abhorrent he seems to be caught up with the perpetrators of violence without any thought for those of us who were victims of the IRA violence through the Troubles."

Ms Foster said she "absolutely" wants Mr Corbyn to condemn the IRA as an organisation, adding: "It is wrong and he should say it is such, but instead he has advocated on behalf of the IRA, he has put forward petitions for some of their members, he has attended memorial services for those who he calls brave people - who I would call terrorists - so I'm sorry there will be no meeting of minds between myself and Jeremy Corbyn."

Ms Foster also claimed that Mr Corbyn "wanted the IRA to win".

She said: "It's not just that he reached out to the IRA and spoke to them - there are many fine people who tried to speak to the IRA to ask them to desist and stop what they were doing.

"He actually supported them - he wanted the IRA to win.

"That's the fundamental difference between those who reached out to all sides during the Troubles - he didn't do that and I think it should be called out for what it is."

Security minister Ben Wallace, who served in the North as a soldier during the Troubles, said: "It is a disgrace that a man who wants to be prime minister cannot describe the IRA as terrorists, and to suggest otherwise is an insult to the victims and relatives whose lives were devastated by the IRA's murderous campaign of violence.

"Anyone who has ever experienced the fear and horrendous aftermath of indiscriminate bombings and shootings will know that the IRA were ruthless terrorists.

"Anyone who has had to experience the horror of picking pieces of bodies off the streets, or had to bury a loved one after one of their attacks will know that Mr Corbyn is dangerously deluded and morally bankrupt.

"No ifs, no buts, the IRA were terrorists who murdered hundreds of people and ruined thousands more lives.

"If Jeremy Corbyn cannot say that then he is unfit to be prime minister."</s>Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised after he refused five times to directly condemn the IRA in an interview with Sky News.

Mr Corbyn said all bombing is wrong as he faced repeated questions on the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme over whether he condemned the IRA alone for its role in the Troubles.

He said: I condemn all the bombing by both the loyalists and the IRA.

Mr Corbyn also defended his associations with IRA-linked rallies in the 1980s.

He said: I wanted to bring about peace in Northern Ireland. You have to talk to people with whom you don’t agree. And I did.

But Security Minister Ben Wallace said voters would be outraged by his refusal to unequivocally condemn the IRA.

Mr Corbyn said: In the 1980s Britain was looking for a military solution in Ireland. It clearly was never going to work. Ask anyone in the British Army at that time.

Therefore you have to seek a peace process. You condemn the violence of those that laid bombs that killed large numbers of innocent people and I do.

Pressed as to whether he would condemn the IRA without equating it to …?, Mr Corbyn replied: No, I think what you have to say is all bombing has to be condemned and you have to bring about a peace process.

Mr Wallace, who served as an Army officer in Northern Ireland, said: People up and down the country will rightly be outraged that Jeremy Corbyn won’t unequivocally condemn the IRA for the bloodshed, bombs and brutal murders they inflicted on a generation of innocent people.

Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn has said that the Labour Party’s immigration policy would reflect fair immigration based on the needs of our society.

The leader refused to give a direct response to the question of whether there should be more or less immigration post-Brexit several times.

Freedom of movement obviously ends when you leave the European Union because it’s a condition of the membership, he said.

He added that Labour would make sure that EU nationals would be able to remain in Britain and recognise the enormous contribution made by those who have come to this country in our NHS, education and transport industries.

Sophy Ridge pressed Mr Corbyn several times on whether he wanted immigration to go up or down, he said: I want us to have a society that works and a balance that works and I cannot get into numbers games because I don’t think it works.

Mr Corbyn also reiterated his party’s commitment to ensuring the pension triple lock, ending the freeze on working age benefits, free school meals, improving public housing and ending tuition fees.

When asked if he was going to win the election, Mr Corbyn said: It’s going very well, large numbers of people are flocking to join the Labour Party and join in our campaigns.

The seemingly positive response to many of the Labour party’s proposed domestic policies is in stark contrast to the mounting criticism of Theresa May’s proposed overhaul of social care funding.

The social care changes, outlined in the Conservative manifesto, would make elderly people liable for the costs of care they receive at home.

The payment would come from their own assets after death, with only the last £100,000 of their estates ring-fenced.

A Survation poll in the Mail on Sunday suggested 47% of respondents opposed the proposals, and 28% said it made them less likely to vote Conservative.

Mrs May has insisted the plans are intended to ensure fairness across generations and ensure the long-term sustainability of the social care system.

But in addition to attacks from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, the proposals have also come in for criticism from some within the Conservative ranks.

Conservative think-tank, The Bow Group, described it as a stealth tax, and Sarah Wollaston who was the Conservative Chair of the Health Select Committee in the last parliament has said it could encourage people to stay in hospitals, if they felt they could not afford special care at home.

Mr Corbyn has accused Mrs May of attempting to set young against old, creating a war between the generations.

The message is getting through. Get on any bus, get on any train, go in any cafe, talk to people. The whole discussion and the whole debate is unravelling from the Tory point of view, he told a rally in Birmingham.

:: General Election 2017: Where the parties stand on the key issues

It all comes as opinion polls in both the Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Times, the first to be published since the manifesto launch, suggest Labour is chipping away at the Conservative lead.

The latest Survation poll puts the Conservatives at 46% and Labour at 34% – a 12 point difference that has closed by five points over a week.

In the Sunday Times, a YouGov poll put the Conservatives at 44% and Labour at 35% – reducing the gap to single digits for the first time since the snap election was called.

This apparent trend would represent an improvement on the 30.4% of the vote received by Ed Miliband in the 2015 General Election, if borne out on 8 June.

However, there have been words of caution from within the Labour Party, with candidate Lucy Powell writing on Twitter let’s not over-analyse the polls. Either way.

Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer rejected the idea that improving on the 2015 vote share would constitute a success.

We are in a first-past-the-post system, therefore we measure success in the number of seats… establishing a reasonable vote share if your rival gets much more of a vote share just doesn’t do it he told the Guardian.

Meanwhile, Labour’s former deputy prime minister John Prescott has shown his support of the Labour leader in The Sunday Mirror, describing Mr Corbyn as transforming into a prime minister in waiting.

Lord Prescott also hailed the programme unveiled by Mr Corbyn on Tuesday as the best manifesto Labour has published since 1997.

:: Sky is hosting the first live studio audience Q&A of the election with Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn – find out how you can be involved.

:: And don’t forget to watch it on Sky News: The Battle For Number 10 on Bank Holiday Monday, 29 May, at 8.30pm.

http://ooyala.news.sky.com/htY2NhYjE6GxtorvSyEmkJHZQpWXGqZA/DOcJ-FxaFrRg4gtDEwOjM3NjowODE7Tz

 (c) Sky News 2017: Jeremy Corbyn refuses five times to directly condemn IRA</s>Jeremy Corbyn’s so-called “refusal” to condemn the IRA in a TV interview is a “dead cat”, his party’s education secretary has said.

The Labour leader came under fire following a television interview on Sunday in which he faced repeated questions over whether he condemned the Republican group.

Mr Corbyn, who attended rallies and protests organised by the Republican-backed Troops Out Movement in the 1980s, said he condemned “all bombing” but would not single out the IRA on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Angela Rayner said: “I think it’s a bit of a dead cat because the Conservatives know that at the moment they are on the rack, because they are trying to bring in a dementia tax which will hurt older people.

“Jeremy Corbyn on Sophy Ridge did condemn the bombing (by the) IRA, he did condemn that bombing and he was quite clear about that.

“Labour have got a proud record, under Tony Blair we brought about the peace process in Northern Ireland.

“Jeremy has been absolutely clear, he condemns the bombing by the IRA in Northern Ireland and we want to continue to see that peace process flourish.”</s>Jeremy Corbyn’s so-called “refusal” to condemn the IRA in a TV interview is a “dead cat”, his party’s education secretary has said.

The British Labour leader came under fire following a television interview on Sunday in which he faced repeated questions over whether he condemned the Republican group.

Mr Corbyn, who attended rallies and protests organised by the Republican-backed Troops Out Movement in the 1980s, said he condemned “all bombing” but would not single out the IRA on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Angela Rayner said: “I think it’s a bit of a dead cat because the Conservatives know that at the moment they are on the rack, because they are trying to bring in a dementia tax which will hurt older people.

“Jeremy Corbyn on Sophy Ridge did condemn the bombing (by the) IRA, he did condemn that bombing and he was quite clear about that.

“Labour have got a proud record, under Tony Blair we brought about the peace process in Northern Ireland.

“Jeremy has been absolutely clear, he condemns the bombing by the IRA in Northern Ireland and we want to continue to see that peace process flourish.”

The issue is set to be raised Monday by DUP leader Arlene Foster who has accused Mr Corbyn of being beyond the “political pale” because of his past support for Irish republican groups.

In a speech, she is expected to attack the British Labour leader’s democratic credentials and voice support for his Conservative rival Theresa May.

“While Theresa May is well within the political mainstream and has proven herself to be a solid and reliable unionist, Jeremy Corbyn is beyond the political pale,” Ms Foster says, according to a pre-released script.

“It is hard to take seriously the democratic credentials of a man who was so close to the political representatives of the IRA at the height of the Troubles.

“It is hard to see much good coming for the Labour party from the coming election, except the replacement of their leader.”

Mr Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell have faced scrutiny over their past association with Irish republicans.

Before the IRA ceasefire, they controversially met with Sinn Féin a number of times in Westminster during the 1990s.

Mr McDonnell has apologised for comments he made in 2003 praising the IRA’s “bravery”.

After becoming British Labour leader in 2015, Mr Corbyn defended his reaching out to republicans during the Troubles - insisting he “wanted the violence to stop”.

On Sunday, British security minister Ben Wallace, a former army officer who served in Northern Ireland, said: “People up and down the country will rightly be outraged that Jeremy Corbyn won’t unequivocally condemn the IRA for the bloodshed, bombs and brutal murders they inflicted on a generation of innocent people.

“Jeremy Corbyn has spent a lifetime siding with Britain’s enemies, but he and his extreme views could be leading our country and representing it abroad - negotiating with 27 EU countries in just over two weeks’ time. And it’s the British people who will pay for this for generations.”

At lunchtime on Monday, Ms Foster will address a meeting of the pro-Brexit Bruges Group in Mayfair, London, on Brexit and the Union.

Although Northern Ireland voted by 56 per cent to 44 per cent in favour of Remain in last June’s referendum on the UK’s EU membership, the DUP campaigned for Brexit.

Ms Foster will say: “Who could deny that the situation of Northern Ireland within the UK, and indeed Ireland within the EU, will face different challenges from other areas affected by the UK’s EU exit and will require unique and tailored solutions?

“However, I do not believe that a circular argument about some ill-defined and ill-conceived so-called special status for Northern Ireland is helpful: indeed, it is more likely to be counter-productive.”

She said she was prepared to be flexible over Brexit.

“I am more interested in getting the best deal for Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole than I am in some doctrine or dogma.

“By far the best way to achieve this is to get a Stormont Executive up and running as quickly as possible.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will visit families of victims of the IRA bombings in Hyde Park and Regent's Park.