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Reaction to May and Corbyn TV questioning
Labour leader pressed on foreign policy views
May defended changes to social care policy
UKIP's Paul Nuttall interviewed by Andrew Neil
Angela Harrison and Tom Moseley
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BBC Radio 4
The former Labour cabinet minister Jacqui Smith was reflecting on some of the lessons she had learned in her time in the job as Home Secretary, on Nick Robinson's Political Thinking programme on Radio 4 today. And she highlighted in particular what she described as "the secret side of the counter-terror operation", one of the aspects of political life she would not otherwise have come across.
When asked how much of the security services' work a Home Secretary could alter or influence, Ms Smith said that in the case of a major terrorist incident such as the one she encountered on her first day in the job in 2007 (car bombs placed outside a London night club and an attack on Glasgow airport) her primary responsibility was to be the public face of government: "You will need to make a public statement....that's your role....but you are not going to be directing extremely experienced security agencies or counter-terror police about what they should be doing in the investigation. That's simply not your role."
Then commenting on the balance between the actual security side of the counter-terror operation and wider aspect of government policy, the former Home Secretary said: "While I think we are, on the whole, extremely well prepared for a terror attack I do come back to the Prevent element. This challenge to really get in early and prevent people from turning to this kind of hideous action in the first place is one thing we did do a lot of work on and I think is constantly developing - and needs to."
Jeremy Corbyn says he was "appalled" by the violence used by the IRA during the Troubles
Read MoreJeremy Corbyn shows off his footballing skills on Hackney Marshes
Jeremy Corbyn has said that the community spirit shown in Manchester in the aftermath of the terrorist attack is an example of how extremism can be countered.
Speaking on a campaign visit in London, Mr Corbyn said: "We have to deal with radicalism and extremism by building strong communities and the community spirit in Manchester was very interesting. Obviously the whole city is grieving for those who've died but they all came together in Albert Square to show an amazing solidarity with each other. And with the communities in Manchester that was very important - building that strength of cohesion and community."
But then - returning to a theme he outlined yesterday in a speech on security and foreign policy, highlighting a connection between Britain's involvement in conflicts overseas and domestic terrorism - the Labour leader said: "It's also about what happens in other parts of the world and so the question of Libya is a serious one. There [are] huge spaces with effectively no government... If we leave it as it is, it's going to be a place where all kinds of terrible ideas are going to gain traction out of desperation."
Jeremy Corbyn has condemned the IRA's bombing campaign during the Troubles after coming under pressure to distance himself from the group's activities.
The Labour leader said the IRA's actions were "completely wrong" because they killed civilians.
Mr Corbyn said on Friday he had "never met" the IRA and had only held talks with its political wing Sinn Fein.
But the Conservatives claimed comments by Diane Abbot in an interview on Saturday showed this was untrue.
Ms Abbott, a long-time ally of Mr Corbyn, told LBC radio he had only met IRA members "in their capacity as activists in Sinn Fein"
Former Chancellor George Osborne has said Theresa May is offering "a retreat from international liberalism and globalisation" in a shift from policies he pursued in tandem with David Cameron.
Mr Osborne, now editor of the London Evening Standard, contrasted Mrs May's approach with the "socially liberal, pro-business and pro-free market" values which he wanted to promote in his new role.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Political Thinking, Mr Osborne also stood by criticisms made in the Standard of Mrs May's policies on social care and immigration.
He denied he was taking revenge on Mrs May, who sacked him from the Cabinet when she became prime minster last July. But he said he would pull no punches in his coverage of the Tory election campaign.
Quote Message"Both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are offering, in very different ways, a retreat from international liberalism and globalisation. That is quite a development in British politics, and I think there are quite a lot of people who are uncertain whether that is the right development and I want to make sure that the Evening Standard is asking on their behalf questions about that."
Mr Osborne dismissed any suggestion he was missing life at Westminster, after stepping down as a Conservative MP last month.
He said: "Actually, I'm not missing it at all. I'm really enjoying covering the campaign as an editor. It's a very different perspective and it's good fun."
Catch up with the latest edition of the Today presenter's Radio 4 political programme
Nick Robinson hears from the former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith about politicians and decision-making on security; discusses the political power of the press with the editor of the London Evening Standard, George Osborne; and talks to Mark Damazer (former Radio 4 Controller) and Stewart Wood (former adviser to Ed Miliband) about the week's big campaign interviews.
Conservative proposals to end free school lunches for infants in England will have a negative impact on children's health, Nick Clegg has said.
The Conservatives are proposing free breakfasts for all primary school children instead.
But Mr Clegg said that unlike school lunches, breakfasts have no minimum fruit and vegetable portions.
He said it meant children would no longer get free access to two of their "five-a-day".
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The former Conservative Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has asked for “apology” from Jeremy Corbyn over his views on Northern Ireland and the IRA.
Mr Duncan Smith, who himself served in the British army, said the record of the Labour leader had to be examined in order to ask: "Is this man really fit to govern Britain when all these years he has basically opposed the British governments and peace?”
Asked about Mr Corbyn’s condemnation of IRA killings, he said: “All I know is that he tried to equate what many British soldiers were doing in Northern Ireland, like me, who were sent there to uphold the peace, to stand between the terrorists and the ordinary citizens - and many of my colleagues lost their lives doing it – and for him equate all violence in Northern Ireland as though it was on an a equal par with terrorists blowing people up, as they tried to do in Manchester before, and in Birmingham and in London, with people who were serving.....doing our duty and trying to uphold the peace – that is a disgrace. I want him to apologise for that.”
Mr Duncan Smith said: “The troops were sent to Northern Ireland to uphold the peace. We were not sent to kill and maim indiscriminately. The IRA chose to bomb civilians indiscriminately… they did not care who they killed and maimed.”
Boris Johnson has said remarks made today by Labour's Diane Abbott on Sinn Fein and the IRA and their meetings with Jeremy Corbyn have "exposed" what he described as "lies" told by the Labour leader.
In a BBC interview last night Mr Corbyn had said he had "never met" the IRA during the Troubles and had only held talks with the group's political wing Sinn Fein.
On LBC radio this morning Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, a long-time ally of Mr Corbyn, said Mr Corbyn had only met IRA members "in their capacity as activists in Sinn Fein".
Ms Abbott said: "I think we have to distinguish between conducting private meetings and supporting violent attacks and actually being on a platform," she argued.
And she compared Mr Corbyn's links with the Republican movement to the way Tony Blair had negotiated with Sinn Fein during the peace process.
The shadow home secretary was questioned about remarks of her own made in a 1984 interview about Northern Ireland, where she said: "Every defeat of the British state is a victory for all of us."
Ms Abbott said: "It was 34 years ago. A few years later I became an MP.....I have moved on in the intervening 34 years."
Conservative Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has used her remarks to launch an attack on the Labour leadership: "Jeremy Corbyn’s lies have been exposed by his own shadow home secretary.
"Just hours after Corbyn claimed he had never met the IRA, Diane Abbott says he did – and she disgracefully sought to defend it.
"It is increasingly clear that Jeremy Corbyn will make up anything in an attempt to mislead voters.
"He’s pretending he didn’t support the IRA, just like he is pretending he won’t raise taxes and pretending he will replace our Trident nuclear deterrent."
Jeremy Corbyn has condemned the IRA's bombing campaign during the Troubles after coming under pressure to distance himself from the group's activities.
The Labour leader said the IRA's bombing campaign was "completely wrong" because it killed civilians.
Mr Corbyn has faced questions over his associations with Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, during the 1980s and 1990s and his views on the republican movement during that period.
But asked today about his reaction when Downing Street and then-prime minister Sir John Major were targeted in an IRA mortar attack in 1991, Mr Corbyn said: "Obviously appalled. I was in Parliament at the time, I heard the attack go off.....The bombing campaign was completely wrong because it was taking civilian lives and there had to be a process that dealt with the basis of it in Northern Ireland."
That had come about through the subsequent peace process, he said, beginning on the nationalist side in talks betwwem Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and the leader of Northern Ireland's moderate nationalist SDLP party.
Theresa May has said the presence of troops on the streets will be gradually reduced - but Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said they would not have had to be deployed in the first place if police numbers had not been cut to save cash.
Speaking before Mrs May's announcement that the terrorism threat level is being reduced from "critical" to "severe," the Labour leader said: "I am concerned that the Army has now been deployed and protecting some installations in places, mainly because of the shortage in police numbers."
Mr Corbyn also said it was "disturbing" that more than 1,000 armed police would be deployed to protect events around the UK this Bank Holiday Weekend.
Mr Corbyn said: "I find it disturbing, everybody finds it disturbing, but we have to make sure we're safe."
Labour is committed to increasing police numbers if it wins power on 8 June.
Theresa May has said that the assistance given by the army to police units will be gradually phased out out after the Bank Holiday weekend.
Mrs May said: "In recent days members of the armed forces have been assisting police in Operation Temperer. Today marks the start of a busy Bank Holiday weekend with many sporting events and other events taking place for which detailed security plans are already in place.
"To provide maximum reassurance to the public Operaton Tempura will continue to operate until the Bank Holiday concludes and then, from midnight on Monday onwards, there will be a well planned and gradual withdrawal of members of the armed forces, who will return to normal duties."
Prime Minister Theresa May has warned people that the threat of a terror attack remains high even though the official designation has been reduced this morning from "critical" to severe".
Mrs May said: "The public should be clear about what this means. A threat level of 'severe' means an attack is highly likely. the country should remain vigilant."
Prime Minster Theresa May says the current terrorist threat level which had been at "critical" is to be reduced to be "severe", following an assessment by the JTAC, the Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre.
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has described Manchester as a symbol of courage, defiance and unity for the world, following this week's terrorist attack on the city's Manchester Arena.
Speaking at a campaign event in Scotland Mr Brown said: “Today and in the days and weeks ahead we will shed tears at the loss of so many children and young people.Too many lives have been taken but I say: they cannot take our unity, our solidarity, our support for each other.Hearts have been broken but our resolve remains unbreakable....In the hours and days following the attack Manchester has become a worldwide symbol of courage, defiance and unity. To those who are doubters and who believe that terrorism will make us weak through fear, divide our communities and shatter our spirit…let them go to Manchester."
Here's a thoughtful piece by Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan, a libertarian free marketeer, on how Thatcherites like himself should deal with some of the more left-wing elements of his party's manifesto.
"The parts of the manifesto that might upset Thatcherites – changes in corporate government rules, an energy price cap, new regulations on foreign takeovers – turn out, when you look at the detail, to be less radical than the headlines suggest," he writes on the CapX website., external
Conservative Central Office kept Mr Hannan off the shortlist for the safe seat of Aldershott following the retirement of Sir Gerald Howarth, much to the annoyance of the local party association, according to ConservativeHome. , external
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