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Jeremy Corbyn signed a motion that condemned IRA violence in 1994

Labour leader supported an early day motion to commemorate the victims of the IRA bombing in Birmingham in 1974

Monday 29 May 2017 17:14 BST
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during a community visit to Pagoda Arts in Liverpool
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during a community visit to Pagoda Arts in Liverpool (PA Wire/PA Images)

Jeremy Corbyn signed a motion in the House of Commons that condemned IRA violence and "extended its sympathy to the relatives of those murdered".

The Leader of the Labour Party supported an early day motion put forward by Labour MP David Winnick to commemorate the victims of the IRA bombing in Birmingham in 1974.

The motion was tabled on the 20 year anniversary of the attack that killed 21 people and injured 182 others and was signed by Mr Corbyn in November 1994.

“This House notes that it is 20 years since the mass killings of 21 people in Birmingham as a result of terrorist violence; deplores that such an atrocity occurred and again extends its deepest sympathy to the relatives of those murdered and also to all those injured,” the motion said.

“And strongly hopes that the present cessation of violence by the paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland will be permanent and thus ensure that such an atrocity as took place in Birmingham as well as the killings in many other places both in Northern Ireland itself and Great Britain will never occur again,” it adds.

Mr Corbyn has faced repeated questions over his historic links to the terrorist organisation and his involvement in the Irish peace process.

The Labour leader, who attended rallies and protests organised by the Republican-backed Troops Out Movement in the 1980s, has said he condemns "all bombing" that took place during that period.

He has also repeatedly denied he met with the IRA, most recently during an interview with Andrew Neil for the BBC.

“I didn’t support the IRA. I don’t support the IRA. What I want everywhere is a peace process,” Mr Corbyn said.

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