Jeremy Corbyn has accused the British media of failing to give adequate coverage to terrorist attacks in Beirut and Ankara. Twin explosions in Beirut on 12 November killed 43 people and wounded more than 200, while 128 people were killed and 400 injured in an attack on the Turkish capital in October.
In an interview with Lorraine Kelly on ITV this morning, the Labour leader condemned the Paris attacks:
“I think first of all what happened in Paris was appalling, this is a vibrant, multicultural city, young people of all faiths, and older people as well, all there together, and cultures, and this terrible thing happened.”
He placed them in the context of the similar attacks in Beirut and Ankara, and accused the UK media of a Euro-centric bias:
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“Likewise, which didn’t unfortunately get hardly any publicity, was the bombing in Beirut last week or the killing in Turkey. I think our media needs be able to report things that happen outside of Europe as well as inside. A life is a life.”
Later in the interview, Corbyn speaks out against airstrikes in Syria, arguing that a political settlement should be reached instead:
“Does the bombing change it? The idea has to be surely a political settlement in Syria, but it’s very difficult to achieve.
“One war doesn’t necessarily bring about peace, it often can bring yet more conflict, more mayhem and more loss.”
The segment was Corbyn’s first live daytime interview since his election as leader of the Labour party.