How should the Tories attack Jeremy Corbyn on foreign policy? Today’s Sun splashes on a story about the Labour leader and a Czechoslovakian communist spy. The paper claims that Corbyn briefed a communist spy – masquerading as a Czechoslovakian diplomat – during the cold war. Gavin Williamson has been quick to denounce Corbyn’s behaviour as a ‘betrayal of this country’. As for Corbyn’s response, his spokesman says he did meet with a diplomat but insists he ‘neither had nor offered any privileged information’.
The story has divided opinion online with Corbyn’s critics quick to cite it as further proof that he hates the West and Corbyn’s fans quick to slam it as another MSM smear. Whatever you make of the story – which does at minimum raise questions about Corbyn’s naivety – it certainly has a whiff of déjà vu to it. It’s not just that it’s another story that raises questions about Corbyn’s foreign policy credentials, it’s also another story that appears to fall on deaf ears when it comes to Corbyn’s supporters.
Throughout the snap election, there were numerous stories about Corbyn’s attitude to national security questions – he was blasted for taking tea with IRA bombers, laying a wreath at the grave of a Palestinian militant involved in the Munich massacre and welcoming agents of the Hamas terror group as ‘friends’.
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