Jeremy Cobyn has been condemned by a former head of MI6 for reportedly meeting a Communist spy in the House of Commons. Richard Dearlove says that the Labour leader – who denies the accusations as a ‘ridiculous smear’ – was either ‘incredibly naive or complicit’. The Sun condemns Corbyn in its editorial this morning, saying that it is clear the Labour leader undoubtedly has ‘questions to answer’ over the alleged contact. His reported meeting is further evidence of Corbyn’s ‘shocking judgement’, according to the Sun, which says there is no doubt he was ‘wrong’ to meet with a Czech diplomat at the height of the Cold War, whatever was being discussed. Of course, this is not the first time that Corbyn’s past has run him into hot water. The paper points out that the Labour leader also ‘invited IRA representatives to Parliament, two weeks after the Brighton bombing’. His ‘paid appearances’ on Iranian state TV only ‘five years ago’ are further evidence of Corbyn’s unsuitability to become Prime Minister, according to the Sun. ‘This man cannot be allowed the key to No10,’ the paper concludes.
Cornyn’s denial that he has ever knowingly met a spy could have a simple explanation says the Times. Perhaps the Labour MP was so involved in activism at the time, suggests the paper, that he is ‘unlikely’ to see a foreign diplomat from a communist regime ‘in an adversarial light’, even if they were a spy. Of course, there is also the possibility that the Czech secret police ‘exaggerated their powers of influence’ in filing a report on the alleged contact with Corbyn. But whatever the truth, the facts of the matter are ‘nonetheless dispiriting’. ‘Peace activists in the Cold War unwittingly served the interests of the Soviet Union and its satellites’, says the Times. It is clear that, whether he admits it or not, ‘Mr Corbyn was of this school’. Corbyn’s supporters might justify this alleged meeting by putting it down to the Labour MP’s ‘poor political judgment’. But he should not be allowed to dismiss such matters so lightly, argues the Times. After all, ‘Corbyn shows a naive inability to distinguish between the imperfect but free societies of the west and regimes that practise repression, mass murder and ethnic cleansing,’ says the paper. The Labour leader ‘needs to account’ for his actions, concludes the Times.
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