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Video of Corbyn saying he opposes shoot-to-kill policy rises to the top of BBC website in wake of London attack
A TWO-YEAR-OLD video in which Jeremy Corbyn says he is "not happy" with police shooting terrorists dead has become one of the BBC's most popular clips in the wake of the London Bridge attack.
The interview has apparently taken on new relevance after officers killed the three attackers who struck Borough Market last night.
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However, Labour supporters claim the video is misleading and the party leader has previously said he supports all "strictly necessary force" used by police.
The interview between Mr Corbyn and the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg took place shortly after the terror attack on Paris in November 2015.
The presenter asked the Labour boss: "If you were Prime Minister, would you be happy to order people, police or military, to shoot to kill on Britain's streets?"
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Mr Corbyn replied: "I'm not happy with a shoot-to-kill policy in general, I think that is quite dangerous and I think can often be counterproductive.
"I think you have to have security that prevents people firing off weapons where you can.
"There are various degrees of doing things, as you know, but the idea that you end up with a war in the streets is not a good thing.
"Surely you have to work to prevent these things happening, that's got to be the priority."
After his words kicked off a political furore, the Labour leader clarified that he would not rule out shoot-to-kill in the event of a terror attack.
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He said: "Of course I support the use of whatever proportionate and strictly necessary force is required to save life in response to attacks of the kind we saw in Paris."
And after the attack on Westminster, he said police were right to kill jihadist Khalid Masood after he knifed an officer to death.
Armed police took just eight minutes to shoot dead three terrorists who murdered seven people with a van and knives at 10pm last night.
Today, the video became the fourth most-watched clip on the BBC News website as web users watched and shared it.
Some Corbyn opponents used the interview to argue that the Labour leader would not be sufficiently tough on terror if he took power.
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Simon Danczuk, who is standing for Parliament as an independent after being sacked by Labour, tweeted: "Can't believe public will now vote Labour to put Corbyn in Downing Street when he opposes shoot-to-kill and is effectively terrorists' friend."
But others argued that the clip was taken out of context, and pointed out that the original BBC report was censured for misrepresenting Mr Corbyn's views.
A few web users accused the BBC of deliberately promoting the video to smear the Labour leader.
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However, BBC sources told The Sun that the corporation had not shared the clip today, and said that its prominence on the homepage was only because so many people watched it.
The main parties suspended their national campaigns today in the wake of the atrocity in London.
However, with just four days to go before the General Election, Labour bosses said they would start campaigning again as early as this evening.
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