TORY high command has unleashed a personal attack on Jeremy Corbyn, accusing him of “associating with extremists” and being “muddle-headed” on terrorism as the issue of security overshadowed the final 48 hours of campaigning following the London Bridge attack.
In a campaign speech in County Durham, Boris Johnson, accused the Labour leader of having a record that showed he was weak on opposing terrorism.
"For 30 years, he has been soft and muddle-headed on terror,” declared the Foreign Secretary.
Read more: Sturgeon hints she could leave office before Holyrood election
“This is a guy who actually voted against the formal establishment of MI5 in 1999, who boasts he voted against every piece of counter-terrorism legislation that has been brought before parliament. You have a putative future home secretary in Diane Abbott who does not think that al Qaeda should be a prescribed organisation and who voted against that. It beggars belief that these people should be running our country from Friday.”
He added: “Jeremy Corbyn…says he’s now in favour of shoot-to-kill; he wasn’t until the events of the weekend. I do not see how we can trust him with the safety of our country.”
The Labour leader has made clear that previous comments on shoot-to-kill were misconstrued by the BBC, which was found to have breached its own accuracy rules.
After the London Bridge attack, Mr Corbyn said he would “take whatever action is necessary and effective to protect the security of our people and our country; that includes full authority for the police to use whatever force is necessary to protect and save life as they did last night, as they did in Westminster in March”.
Read more: Sturgeon hints she could leave office before Holyrood election
Sir Michael Fallon seized on reports that in 2002 Mr Corbyn addressed a pro-Palestinian rally attended by extremists from the now banned terror group al Muhajiroun. Anti-Semitic abuse was said to have been used at the event.
The Defence Secretary said: “Jeremy Corbyn wants to be Prime Minister in just two days but this latest revelation about his association with extremists shows exactly why he is unfit to lead the country.
“He has a long track-record of siding with people who want to damage and attack the UK and there can be no excuse for his decision to address this rally.”
The Scot added: “The choice on Thursday is between Theresa May, who acts to protect our national interest and keep our country safe, and Jeremy Corbyn, who stands up for the very people who want to do us harm.”
Read more: Sturgeon hints she could leave office before Holyrood election
our leader brushed off the personal attacks, telling reporters in Telford: "Well, they don't seem to like me very much but I'm coping.
"In politics, you should really always be positive, if you've got something to say, something to offer, and a programme to put forward, say it and put it forward…Always be positive. I have never indulged in personal abuse and I never will."
The Tory attacks followed an intense row over cuts in policing south of the border, raised in wake of the latest terrorist atrocity.
Labour’s Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, warned that the Metropolitan Police was facing the loss of thousands of front line officers under proposed spending plans by the Conservatives.
He said the force stood to lose between 3,400 and 12,800 constables - a reduction in its strength of between 10 and 40 per cent - making it harder to foil future terror attacks.
He said the Met - which had had to make savings of £600 million since 2010 - was not only facing new cuts of £400m but could face the further loss of up to £700 million a year under Conservative plans to change the police funding formula.
Read more: Sturgeon hints she could leave office before Holyrood election
"Cuts on this scale would make it harder to foil future terrorist attacks on our city and as the Mayor of London I'm simply not willing to stand by and let that happen," insisted Mr Khan.
But Mr Johnson, Mr Khan’s predecessor at City Hall, insisted Mrs May had been "extremely helpful and accommodating" at keeping policing numbers high when he was Mayor.
“We are actually increasing the number of armed officers, the numbers of police officers in our capital city has remained high. It is up to the Mayor of London if he chooses to spend more on policing and to keep those numbers high; he can do that, it is within his purse."
Meantime on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, said it was "simply wrong" to blame the 20,000 fall in police numbers for the terrorist rampage at London Bridge.
But Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said that while Labour's plans for an extra 10,000 police would "not necessarily" have prevented the attacks, the increased number of officers would have created better links with the community.
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