Boris Johnson labels Jeremy Corbyn 'naive to the point of dangerous' for saying IS leader should have been arrested
2 min read
Boris Johnson has criticised Jeremy Corbyn's comments about Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after the Labour leader said that arresting rather than killing the IS chief may have been the "right thing to do".
Speaking at an electric taxi factory in Coventry, the Prime Minister said the terror boss was “an absolute diabolical foe of this country, of our liberal values, everything we believe in and support”.
And asked about Mr Corbyn’s words he said: "I think his approach is naive and it is naive to the point of being dangerous.”
Earlier, the Labour leader told LBC: "If we preach international law and international legal process through the International Court of Justice in the Hague, then we should carry it out and if it's possible to arrest somebody and put them on trial, then that is what should have been done.
"That is what I said about the death (of Osama bin Laden) in 2011 and it will continue to be my principle.”
Al-Baghdadi blew himself up with a suicide vest after a strike by US special forces on his hideout in Syria.
Mr Corbyn added: "Him being removed from the scene is a very good thing.
“If it would have been possible to arrest him - I don't know the details of the circumstances at the time, I've only seen various statements put out by the US about it - surely that would have been the right thing to do.
"If we want to live in a world of peace and justice, we should practice it as well."
But Tory security minister Brandon Lewis said the comments were “yet more proof of his flawed judgment and inability to stand up to people who reject our values.”
He added of Mr Corbyn: "Every time he is given the opportunity to take the side of this country's enemies he does so."
In his speech to workers at the London Electric Vehicle Company, Mr Johnson failed to deliver a line briefed the day before his appearance accusing Mr Corbyn of political "onanism", meaning masturbation.
Asked why he had omitted the phrase, which drew condemnation overnight, the PM claimed “a stray early draft” must have been sent out “by a process I don’t pretend to understand”.
Earlier the Labour leader called Mr Johnson's comment "ridiculous and actually quite offensive”.
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