Jeremy Corbyn spends time with some cows but it’s his story that smells funny as Labour leader can’t stop changing his line on terror wreath-laying ceremony
From saying he wasn’t there at all – to saying he was there but not involved, the veteran leftie is now claiming he DID lay a wreath, but he just can’t keep his explanation straight
JEREMY Corbyn might have been spending some time on a farm today, but it is his explanation for being at a wreath-laying ceremony for Munich terrorists which smells funny.
The Labour leader can’t stop changing his line on what really happened at the cemetery in Tunis in 2014, which has seen him widely condemned.
From saying he wasn’t there at all when the Black September killers were honoured, he was forced to admit he was there after pictures emerged.
Mr Corbyn then admitted to being there when the wreath was laid, but claimed he “didn’t think he was involved”.
And today he once again altered his story, saying he did help place a wreath - but insisted there were multiple sets of flowers that were put down at the time.
Here are all the times he’s altered his version of events when he was at the graveyard where terrorists who killed Israeli Olympic athletes in 1972 were honoured:
OCTOBER 2014:
Mr Corbyn writes in the Morning Star newspaper that wreaths were laid to mark the deaths of 47 people killed in an Israeli air strike on a Tunisian PLO base in 1985.
He also says they were laid “on the graves of others killed by Mossad agents in Paris in 1991” – but there is no record of Mossad (the Israeli intelligence agency) having carried out an assassination in the French capital in that year.
But in the same cemetery are the remains of three men assassinated in 1991: Salah Khalaf, who founded the Black September group, along with Fakhri al-Omari and Hayel Abdel-Hamid.
There is also the grave of Atef Bseiso, the man accused of masterminding the 1972 atrocity, killed in Paris in 1992, leading to speculation it was those men he was commemorating.
MAY 2017:
During last year’s election campaign it was suggested he may have been referring to Atef Bseiso, but the Labour leader told Sky News: “No absolutely not.”
He added: “I was in Tunisia at a Palestinian conference and I spoke at that conference.
“I laid a wreath to all those who had died in the air attack on Tunis on the headquarters of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.
“I was accompanied by many other people who were … searching for peace in the Middle East.
“The only way we achieve peace is by bringing people together and talking to them. That was the whole point of the conference and, frankly, the whole point of my life.”
FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2018:
After pictures of the ceremony are published – clearly showing him at the graves of the killers - a source close to Mr Corbyn said his visit was “a Palestinian commemoration for those killed in the bombing in Tunis”.
And to the picture appearing to showing him joining in prayer after placing the flowers on the ground, the source said he was “copying the others out of respect”.
SUNDAY AUGUST 12, 2018:
In response to the widows of the athletes killed attacking Mr Corbyn, Labour’s press team tweeted that they are “being misled”.
They added: “Jeremy did not honour those responsible for the Munich killings.
“He and other Parliamentarians went to the Palestinian cemetery in Tunisia to remember the victims of the 1985 Israeli bombing of the PLO headquarters, many of whom were civilians.”
MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2018:
However, his story changed once again yesterday, contradicting his party’s statement - as well as changing the year of the assassinations in France to 1992, which lines up with the circumstances of Atef Bseiso’s death.
He told ITV News: “A wreath was indeed laid by some of those who attended for those who were killed in Paris in 1992.
“I was present when it was laid… I don't think I was actually involved in it.”
In response Labour refused to comment, but the party’s transport spokesman appeared to admit members of those with Mr Corbyn had honoured the Black September terrorists.
But Rachel Maskell argued her party leader was there “for different purposes”.
She told Sky News: "He was trying to honour people who have lost their lives and was doing that in a very dignified way and certainly not engaging in other agendas that were perhaps occurring at the site at the time."
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn then issued yet another statement, this time stating unequivocally that he did not lay a wreath at the graves of those linked to the Munich Massacre.
He said: “Jeremy visited the Palestine National Cemetery to support Palestinian rights and honour the victims of the illegal 1985 airstrike.”
TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2018:
In a new television clip, Mr Corbyn now admits to being involved in the wreath ceremony, as the pictures have always shown, but claims there was more than one wreath laid that day.
Cutting a very frustrated figure, he rolled his eyes and sighed when he was asked about the incident.
He said: "I was there when the wreaths were laid – that’s pretty obvious.
"There were many others there that were witness to that, I witnessed many other people laying many wreaths."
Pressed on whether he laid the one at the memorial to the terrorists, he insisted: "I laid one wreath along with many other people, in memory, for all those who died in the awful attack in 1955.
“Which as I keep repeating, and you seem not to understand, was condemned by the whole world."
And he once again refused to apologise for his actions, despite calls for him to stand down as leader over the row.
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2018:
After it was revealed Mr Corbyn failed to declare who paid for the trip in the Register of Members Interest, a source said that was because it did not meet the threshold - which was £660 at the time.
A spokesman admitted it was paid for by the Tunisian government.
And today The Sun revealed the Labour leader was put up at the luxury five star Le Palace hotel on the coast of Tunis, where it costs up to £1,000 per night for a suite.
It sparked further questions why he did not declare the trip in his expenses records, and prompted Tory MP Andrew Bridgen to report him to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, demanding an investigation by the expenses watchdog.