Thread by @TimesCorbyn

How did John McDonnell respond to calls for his expulsion from the Labour Party, for supporting the IRA?

John McDonnell:
'Why I stood up for Bobby Sands'
'Expulsion would be an odd reward for telling hard truths' 1/9

McDonnell didn't deny his unreserved support for the IRA. Instead he argued that IRA military action was the reason why negotiations were taking place in Northern Ireland.

Equally there would have been no Victory in Europe Day without the Nazis. 2/9

He continued 'that republicans (which evidently included McDonnell) had the right to honour those who had brought this process of negotiation.'

He means HIS right to publicly honour murderers, terrorists, gangsters & monsters. 3/9

McDonnell actually believed that his public support for murderers and terrorists was actually helping the political process.

The IRA agreed.

The governing Labour Party, SDLP, Tories & Unionists were all outraged. 4/9

McDonnell goes on to say the violence of the last 35 years has a root cause:

No not the IRA who murdered thousands of men, women and children.

It's the British fault. 5/9

McDonnell goes on to compare the terrorists with British troops and calls the says the IRA's murder and bombing campaigns were 'in reality a long and brutal war' 6/9

McDonnell believes that Northern Ireland had only remained part of the union 'by a combination of paramilitary violence and the force of the British army.'

McDonnell of course ignores such thing like democratic consent. 7/9

Finally, he had a warning for the Unionists & one which he will certainly deliver if he ever gets close to power. 8/9

This set of threads will conclude tonight by exploring how McDonnell's actions were viewed by others, including the families of those killed by the IRA. 9/9