Corbyn's Long History Of Meeting Kiillers And Terror Groups As He Snubs The Queen's Invitation To State Dinner With Trump

Jeremy Corbyn was accused of 'staggering' hypocrisy last night after snubbing the Queen's invitation to a state banquet with Donald Trump (bottom centre). Despite his record of meeting terrorists and extremists, the Labour leader yesterday said he would refuse to attend the dinner with Mr Trump at Buckingham Palace in June. Mr Corbyn has previously had meetings with Sinn Fein's former president Gerry Adams (left). As well as this he attended a state banquet with President Xi Jinping of China (bottom right) who has been accused of Human Rights abuses. This is while in 2014 he attended an event in Tunisia where he laid wreaths on the graves of alleged Palestinian terrorists.

In an extraordinary statement, Mr Corbyn accused the US President of engaging in ‘racist and misogynistic rhetoric’ and of backing ‘climate change denial’. He criticised Theresa May for ‘kowtowing’ to Washington and ‘rolling out the red carpet’.


Commons Speaker John Bercow, another prominent Trump critic, has also decided to snub the Queen’s invitation. Last night Mr Corbyn’s stance triggered a backlash from Tory MPs who said his ‘pathetic gesture’ made him ‘unfit to be Prime Minister’. Several pointed to the list of controversial figures he has sat down within the past – including representatives of the terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah, convicted IRA volunteers, Gerry Adams, President Assad of Syria, as well as President Maduro of Venezuela.

Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith said Mr Corbyn was clearly ‘unfit’ to lead the country.

‘Jeremy Corbyn dislikes his own country, dislikes the monarchy and dislikes the national anthem, yet he is friends with Mr Maduro of Venezuela,’ he said.

‘Hypocrisy is the basis of his politics: It shows bad judgment that he refuses to sit down with our closest ally and our head of state. His ideology makes him unfit to be Prime Minister. He will not be missed. This is a pathetic gesture.’

Tom Tugendhat, Tory chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, pointed out that Mr Corbyn had attended a state banquet for China’s President Xi Jinping, who has been accused of human rights abuses, in 2015.

‘Given the people he has broken bread with ... I think it’s a level of hypocrisy that is really quite staggering,’ he said.

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Mr Corbyn (left) arriving for the state banquet at Buckingham Palace in London for President of China Xi Jinping in 2015. He won't be doing the same for Mr Trump

Mr Corbyn announced his decision in a statement yesterday, days after it was confirmed that Mr Trump will make a full state visit from June 3-5.

The Labour leader said: ‘Theresa May should not be rolling out the red carpet for a state visit to honour a President who rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric.

‘Maintaining an important relationship with the US does not require the pomp and ceremony of a state visit. It is disappointing that the Prime Minister has again opted to kowtow to this US administration.’ He added, however, that he was willing to meet with the President to discuss ‘all matters of interest’.

It is thought to be unprecedented for a leader of the Opposition to refuse to attend the formal dinner with the head of state of the United Kingdom’s closest international ally.

Mr Corbyn previously criticised the US President and joined 100,000 protesters who flew a blimp of Mr Trump as a baby when he came to Britain last year.

Several Tory MPs last night criticised Mr Corbyn’s decision. Sir Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill, said: ‘It’s reassuringly stupid and very bad manners. After all, the President of the United States, no matter what Corbyn’s views, or anyone else’s, is an official guest of the Queen.

‘It’s not at all clever or grown up of him to refuse to attend. But it is true to form for Corbyn. All Corbyn’s friends are people who are enemies of this country – Hamas, the IRA, the Venezuelan government.’

Lest we forget... he WILL sit down with IRA, Hamas and Hezbollah 

Mr Corbyn has a long history of meeting killers, terrorist groups and other figures who approve of violence.

Hamas

Mr Corbyn called the terror group his ‘friends’ in 2009. He’s also met leaders of the organisation that has carried out a brutal campaign of abductions, torture and unlawful killings against Palestinians it accuses of ‘collaborating’ with Israel.

In 2014 he attended a ‘peace conference’ in Tunisia, where he laid a wreath near the graves of Palestinian terrorists responsible for the massacre of Jewish athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

The IRA

As a newly elected MP in 1983 he invited IRA apologist Gerry Adams to Parliament. The two men met on other occasions during the 1980s, when the IRA was at the height of its terror campaign. He also invited two convicted IRA volunteers to tea in Westminster in 1984, just two weeks after the Brighton bomb, which killed five people at the Tory Party conference.

In 1996, the year of the Docklands and Manchester bombings, he again invited suspected IRA terrorists to Parliament.

Hezbollah

Officials from the Lebanese group, classified by the US government as a terror organisation and which has called for the destruction of Israel, were invited by Mr Corbyn to a meeting in 2009. He said: ‘It will be my pleasure and honour to host an event in Parliament where our friends from Hezbollah will be speaking.’

Xi Jinping of China

In 2015 he attended a state banquet with President Xi Jinping of China, who has been accused of human rights abuses. Prince Charles is believed to have refused to attend over China’s record.

Bashar al-Assad of Syria

The Labour leader accepted a free trip to meet President Assad of Syria funded by the Palestinian lobbyists who organised an event at which Jews were blamed for the Holocaust.

Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela

In 2006, Mr Corbyn shared a platform with the Venezuelan president. Mr Maduro has been accused of a violent crackdown on opponents which has led to hundreds of deaths and bankrupted the oil-rich country. The hardline president has called Mr Corbyn a ‘friend of Venezuela’.

Bob Seely said: ‘This raises serious questions about Jeremy Corbyn’s fitness to govern when he will snub an invitation from the Queen but is more than happy to have a takeaway with terrorists.’

Fellow Tory Simon Hart said: ‘The UK relationships with hundreds of countries are with the office (which is permanent) rather than the individual (who isn’t). Given the world leaders that Jeremy Corbyn is happy to mix with, it seems odd to exclude our oldest ally.’

And Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell said: ‘I think’s it’s wholly wrong that the leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition is refusing to attend a state banquet hosted by the sovereign.

‘The US is Britain’s closest ally, whatever your views on Donald Trump. If nothing else, it is a missed opportunity for Mr Corbyn to tell the President of the United States what he thinks.’

Mr Trump will make his state visit as Britain and the US mark 75 years since D-Day. British taxpayers face an £18million bill to host him. His working visit last year attracted huge protests and additional policing costs ran into the millions.

The President and his wife Melania will be guests of the Queen during the three-day visit, although they have not been invited to stay at Buckingham Palace because it is undergoing renovation works.

Mr Trump will hold talks with Mrs May at Downing Street and will take part in commemorations in Portsmouth marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. However, he will not get a carriage ride down The Mall because of security fears.

The white tie banquet at the palace, hosted by the Queen, is always one of the key events of any state visit. It is traditionally attended by senior politicians – including the Leader of the Opposition – and other dignitaries.

Invitations for state visits are issued by the Lord Steward, on behalf of The Queen. Buckingham Palace will not confirm the guest list in advance, but there are generally 170 guests at a state banquet.

Mr Trump’s visit is highly controversial and is expected to attract mass demonstrations.

The President’s opponents have already vowed to ‘bring out the baby blimp’ - an inflatable caricature depicting Trump as an infant - for the second time in a year. Mr Trump was promised the official trip by Mrs May after he was elected in 2016 but it was postponed amid protests in London against his policies.

Mr Bercow has also refused to attend the state banquet and is yet to invite Mr Trump to address MPs, which is traditional when a US President visits Britain.

Mr Bercow said in 2017 he was ‘strongly opposed’ to granting the President the honour of a speech because of his ban on migrants from certain Muslim countries.

A spokesman said: ‘Mr Speaker has been invited to the banquet, but he will not be attending.’

Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable has also declined the invitation.