The searing hypocrisy of the right-wing "Corbyn talked to the IRA" brigade

One of the most commonly occurring personal attack points that right-wingers use against Jeremy Corbyn is that he openly talked to the IRA in the 1980s and '90s.

The problem with this right-wing narrative (like with so many other right-wing narratives) is that it's totally undermined by facts and reality.

These people know that Corbyn talked to the IRA because he did it openly, but at the very same time Corbyn was openly talking to the IRA the political establishment were conducting secret backdoor deals with them.

• In 1972 the Tory government of Edward Heath conducted secret negotiations with the IRA. The truth was only revealed in 2003.

• Margaret Thatcher always used to insist that she did not negotiate with terrorists, but in 2011 declassified documents revealed that that's exactly what she did. She negotiated with the IRA in 1981 during the hunger strikes, and the documents detailing the negotiating position of the UK government even featured annotations in her handwriting! 

• Thatcher also gave her personal approval to secret talks with the IRA in 1990 too. So much for her not negotiating with terrorists rhetoric eh?

• In 1993 the revelation that John Major's government had been conducting secret talks with the IRA created a huge political scandal, with several Tory MPs (who were clearly unaware of Thatcher's secret talks with the IRA) reacting with horror at the revelation that the not negotiating with terrorists line was a total lie.

• In 2008 it was revealed that the UK government maintained a secret back channel to talk with the IRA for two decades all the way from 1973 and 1993.

• From 1997 onward Tony Blair's government conducted negotiations with the IRA that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement, the power-sharing deal and the successful deescalation of the troubles. During this process Tony Blair had secret talks with the IRA in 1999.

• In 2010 an Tory peer called David James openly admitted that he had a history of secretly laundering money for the IRA. He still sits in the unelected House of Lords as a Tory peer!

It's astoundingly hypocritical for right-wingers to slam Corbyn for having openly talked to the IRA when the political establishment they're defending were doing the same thing in but in secret for decades. But then hypocrisy (which stems from fact-aversion and immunity to cognitive dissonance) is an extremely common trait amongst right-wingers, and especially extreme right-wingers isn't it?

 Another Angry Voice  is a "Pay As You Feel" website. You can have access to all of my work for free, or you can choose to make a small donation to help me keep writing. The choice is entirely yours.

OR