Fury on anniversary of IRA bombings: Jeremy Corbyn faces heckles after launching election manifesto in the West Midlands on 45th anniversary of Birmingham pub attacks
- Today was the 45th anniversary of the IRA Birmingham pub bombings
- Jeremy Corbyn was in the West Midlands, on his General Election campaign
- 21 people were killed when the IRA blew up two pubs on 21 November 1974
The Labour leader faced heckles yesterday after he launched his manifesto in the West Midlands on the 45th anniversary of the IRA Birmingham pub bombings.
Jeremy Corbyn was greeted by protesters as he arrived at a pensioners’ club in Dudley.
It is thought the men were angry at the timing of his visit. Twenty-one people were killed and 182 injured when the IRA blew up two pubs on 21 November, 1974.
Protesters are pictured today as they met Jeremy Corbyn as he arrived in Dudley on the anniversary of the IRA Birmingham pub bombings
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (centre) being escorted into Dudley Pensioner Club by police after being heckled, while in Upper Gornal, West Midlands, on the General Election campaign following the launch of his party’s manifesto
Firemen survey the damage, and look for survivors in the Mulberry Bush, after the Birmingham pub bombing. The IRA targeted two pubs on the 21 November 1974, killing 21 people and injuring 182
At Birmingham City University, Mr Corbyn said the bombings should serve as a reminder ‘that the peace in Northern Ireland is priceless and something we should never take for granted’.
But former Labour minister Ian Austin, who quit the party over Mr Corbyn’s leadership, said that on the anniversary, ‘Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell should use their visit … to finally apologise for the succour they gave to the IRA.’
In October 1984, weeks after an IRA bomb killed five at the Brighton Tory conference, Mr Corbyn invited two convicted IRA volunteers to the House of Commons.