Yahoo News Son of top Jeremy Corbyn aide claims Manchester terror attack came at 'ideal time' for Theresa May
The son of Jeremy Corbyn’s top election strategist said the Manchester suicide bombing had come at an “unbelievably ideal time” for Theresa May, according to reports.
Jack Murray, whose father Andrew Murray was recently installed as Mr Corbyn’s election chief, wrote on Facebook that the media would be “entirely focused” on the attack rather than the “disastrous” Tory campaign.
However, Labour has moved to disassociate itself from the comments by pointing out that the 30-year-old has never worked for the party or held any position.
Earlier this month Andrew Murray, a former member of the British communist party who once called Isil's victories a "series of sudden and stunning triumphs", was brought in to run Labour’s campaign earlier this month having only joined the party in December.
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His appointment came after a series of polls which showed the party trailing the Conservatives.
Mr Murray’s son described events in Manchester on Facebook as “truly horrific” but said: “One thing is for certain though, that this has come at an unbelievably ideal time for those in power and over the next two weeks the media will now be entirely focused on this terrorist attack and not the disastrous Conservative party campaign that was losing support daily.
“It will be entirely focused on using this attack as further proof of why we need a ‘strong and stable’ leader and not a man of peace with ‘terrorist links’.”
He said people should not let the “tragic loss of innocent life be used as a campaign tool”.
But a Labour source told The Sun: “Andrew Murray is not responsible for his adult son’s comments.”
His son’s comments come after Debbie Hicks, a Labour Party vice chairman in Stroud, Gloucs, was forced to apologise after writing on Facebook: "I can't help thinking this is wonderful timing for Theresa May."
i'm sure absolutely no political calculation went into the decision to put Strong Decisive Army Men on the streets weeks before the election
— Sam �� Kriss (@sam_kriss) May 23, 2017
And Sam Kriss, a supporter of Mr Corbyn and journalist for the Vice news website, suggested on Twitter that he believed the decision to deploy troops in the wake of the terror attack was politically motivated.
He said: “I'm sure absolutely no political calculation went into the decision to put Strong Decisive Army Men on the streets weeks before the election.”
Mr Kriss wrote in a piece posted on his own website in April that Mr Corbyn represents the “possibility of something actually good, the possibility of a way out”.
