Jeremy Corbyn: Hilary Benn says Labour leader must be given full access to security secrets

Labour's shadow foreign secretary warned the UK government not to deny full intelligence briefings to Jeremy Corbyn. Hilary Benn said David Cameron must show "respect" to Corbyn, regardless of insinuations from Conservatives that the left-winger cannot be fully trusted due to his links with Hamas, IRA supporters and other groups.

"That's nonsense. He is the leader of the opposition and he should be respected and treated as such. He should be treated in the same way that all leaders of the opposition have been treated," Benn said, as reported by the Evening Standard on 25 September.

There have been reports that Corbyn may only be granted partial access to vital intelligence despite the fact that ministers are considering requesting parliament to approve bombing raids on Syria. Cameron recently branded the Labour leader as a threat to security, tweeting after Corbyn's election: "The Labour Party is now a threat to our national security, our economic security and your family's security."

Crispin Blunt, the Conservative chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, has stated the government is not under obligation to share intelligence information with Corbyn. Nevertheless, the Labour leader has been invited to join the Privy Council, which is a requirement for top-level security briefings.

Meanwhile, claims that Corbyn funded an IRA bomber have turned out to be almost 30 years old and inaccurate. The Labour leader was accused of handing £45 to a conman who said he was fleeing the police after planting bombs in London during the Troubles. The story appeared in the Sun newspaper on 19 September, but first appeared in the Times 28 years ago.

In 1987, Sean O'Regan was sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding Corbyn and making bomb hoax statements. At that time, the Times reported that O'Regan approached Corbyn, pretending to be an IRA member. The Times ran a retraction shortly afterwards to make clear it was one of Corbyn's staff, rather than the MP, who paid the conman and that Corbyn reported the incident to the police.