Labour ‘must take action’ over Bobby Sands tweet say unionists

On Tuesday, the London Young Labour account tweeted a tribute to Sands on the anniversary of his death in 1981.

The Tweet included a photograph of a mural of Bobby Sands and urged a continuation of the “fight for an end to imperialism and for a free and united Ireland”.

That message has been strongly condemned by unionists from the DUP and UUP.

DUP MP Ian Paisley told the News Letter he has brought the tweet to the attention of the Labour leader Keir Starmer, who replaced Jeremy Corbyn as party leader earlier this year.

“I’ve sent that tweet to Keir Starmer who I know will be alarmed by it and probably annoyed by it.I worked with Keir Starmer for about four or five years when he was on the policing board as our advisor.”

Mr Paisley continued: “That tweet was actually sent to me by a Labour party supporter who lives in London but is actually from Northern Ireland. They were very annoyed by it, because this doesn;t reflect what grassroots Labour members are about and it gives the wrong view of the Labour Party.

“Now it’s up to the Labour party leadership to take this by the scruff of the neck and sort this out, and I’ve asked Keir Starmer to do that.”

Mr Paisley added: “It is absolutely abhorrent that these sort of narrow-minded views are being propelled. I think it shows the level of misunderstanding and I think the tweet was probably put there out of ignorance or to deliberately provke.

“I think the person who did this should be severely disciplined by the Labour Party.

If this is done out of ignorance, that says more about the person who tweeted it — they are an ignoramus and they shouldn’t be doing that.”

UUP MLA Doug Beattie said: “This is incredibly insensitive to those people who were victims of the IRA.

“Young Labour will become the present day Labour — the young activists now will become the politicians of the future — and is this is the view that they have now?

“If they have so little regard for those people who were victims of the IRA including those victims in London, in Birmingham, in Manchester, men, women and children murdered by the IRA, if that’s their understanding of what happened here in Northern Ireland then God help us if they are the politicians of the future in regards to Labour.”

Mr Beattie continued: “Labour needs to get to grips with this. Keir Starmer needs to take a stand. He needs to understand exactly what Corbyn has created within that party.

“Now, Bobby Sands is dead and I do not wish to speak ill of the dead but this is a case of them promoting the aims of the IRA and that’s an affront to victims.

“Their tweet and their views does incredible harm. There’s a naievity about this, there’s a lack of understanding about this, there’s an insensitivity. Keir Starmer needs to get a grip of it now.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “The tweet in question is inappropriate. The Labour Party will always be committed to cross-community cooperation and the principles of the Good Friday agreement.

“Our role must be to remain as a trusted partner between all communities in Northern Ireland and help all sides work together to not only address the legacy of the troubles but create a prosperous future for all the people of Northern Ireland.

“That is Labour’s legacy and one we remain completely committed to.”