Jeremy Corbyn will today seek to blame Tory budget cuts and the invasion of Iraq for the London Bridge terror attack.
Streamlined public services will ‘miss chances to intervene in the lives of people who go on to commit inexcusable acts,’ the Labour leader will say on Sunday.
He is also expected to take aim at his Labour predecessor Tony Blair, saying that the 2003 invasion of Iraq ‘set off a spiral of conflict’ that fuelled terrorism.
In his speech in York, Mr Corbyn will insist that ‘I will always do whatever is necessary and effective to keep our people safe.’
However, a poll which was published last night revealed that only 24 per cent believe Mr Corbyn is the best candidate to defend Britain from attack, compared to 54 per cent for Mr Johnson.
It comes amid a furious political row over how London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan was able to walk free from a previous terror conviction and slaughter two people in a knife rampage on Friday.
Warning: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (pctured in Leeds yesterday) will today seek to blame Tory budget cuts and the invasion of Iraq for the London Bridge terror attack
Khan was released from prison last year after his initial ‘indeterminate’ prison term was changed to a fixed sentence by the Court of Appeal in 2013.
Home Secretary Priti Patel yesterday blamed legislation brought in by Labour in 2008 for guaranteeing that Khan would be released after half of that sentence.
But with just 11 days until the general election, Mr Corbyn will today seek to shift the blame to the spending axe wielded by the Conservatives after coming to power in 2010.
‘It is our duty to look calmly and seriously at what we need to do to give people real security,’ the Labour leader is expected to say.
‘Our public services are the glue that bind our society together. Community policing, the probation service, mental health, youth and social services, all play a vital part.
‘When those public services are cut back as they have been during the past decade, they leave behind gaps.
‘That can lead to missed chances to intervene in the lives of people who go on to commit inexcusable acts, whether it’s during their childhood, their first brush with the law, their first conviction, or in prison through rehabilitation programmes.
‘Real security doesn’t only come from strong laws and intelligence, it comes also from effective public services that have the funding they need. You can’t keep people safe on the cheap.’
Emergency: Police surround London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan moments before shooting him dead after he killed two people in a knife rampage on Friday
Blaming the invasion of Iraq for fuelling terrorism, Mr Corbyn will say: ‘For far too long, our country’s leaders have made the wrong calls on our security.
‘Their mistakes in no way absolve terrorists of blame for their murderous actions. The blame lies with the terrorists, their funders and recruiters.
‘But if we are to protect people we must be honest about what threatens our security. The threat of terrorism cannot and should not be reduced to questions of foreign policy alone.
‘But too often the actions of successive governments have fuelled, not reduced that threat.
’16 years ago, I warned against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. I said it would set off a spiral of conflict, hate, misery, desperation that will fuel the wars, the conflict, the terrorism, and the misery of future generations. It did, and we are still living with the consequences today.’
Mr Corbyn will also follow Prime Minister Boris Johnson in backing the police’s use of lethal force.
The London Bridge terrorist was shot dead by police after killing two people and injuring three on Friday.
Lead: A poll which was published last night revealed – among other things – that only 24 per cent believe Jeremy Corbyn is the best candidate to defend Britain from attack, compared to 54 per cent for Boris Johnson
‘The police who put themselves on the line to protect us will have the authority to use whatever force is necessary to protect and save life,’ Mr Corbyn says.
‘If police believe an attacker is wearing a suicide vest and innocent lives are at risk, then it is right they are able to use lethal force.’
The PM has also backed police for shooting the terrorist dead.
‘The police had very good reasons to think the attacker presented a real and deadly threat. They had to make split second decisions,’ Mr Johnson said.
‘I know the overwhelming majority of the country will join me in giving them our absolute support.’
Metropolitan Police counterterrorism chief Neil Basu said the suspect appeared to be wearing a bomb vest but it turned out to be ‘a hoax explosive device.’
Khan had been convicted of terrorism offences in 2012 but released from prison on licence in December 2018 and was wearing a tag.
He was part of an al Qaida-inspired terror group that plotted to bomb the London Stock Exchange and build a terrorist training camp on land in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
Usman Khan (left) stabbed Cambridge graduate Jack Merritt (right) and several others in Friday’s knife rampage near London Bridge
A list of other potential targets included the names and addresses of the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, Boris Johnson who was then the Mayor of London, two rabbis, and the US Embassy in London.
The group was also linked to hate preacher Anjem Choudary by a mobile phone seized from an address of one of the plotters.
In February 2012, Khan was handed an indeterminate sentence for public protection, with a minimum term of eight years.
The sentence he could have been kept in prison for as long he was deemed to be a threat to the public.
Passing judgment at the time, Mr Justice Wilkie said: ‘In my judgment, these offenders would remain, even after a lengthy term of imprisonment, of such a significant risk that the public could not be adequately protected by their being managed on licence in the community, subject to conditions, by reference to a preordained release date.’
However, the sentence was quashed at the Court of Appeal in April 2013 and he was given a determinate 16-year jail term.
Judges including Lord Justice Leveson said at the time when reversing the original sentence that the Parole Board was best placed to decide when he would be safe to be released from jail.
But yesterday the Parole Board released a statement saying that Khan was released automatically after half his sentence and they did not make the decision.
