The Foreign Secretary has been roundly criticised after he stated that Nazanin Zaghari Radcliffe – a British Iranian citizen being detained in Iran – was “simply teaching people journalism” when she was held in the country 18 months ago.
However, when asked whether the Labour leader was in the position to make such a call, having appeared on Iran’s Press TV, Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the treasury Peter Dowd told Sky News: “Two wrongs don’t make a right, if you want to put it in those terms.”
Sky’s Niall Paterson confronted Mr Dowd with reports that Mr Corbyn was “paid tens of thousands” to appear on the state broadcaster, “six months after they lost their licence for airing a confession extracted through torture”.
However, Mr Dowd also defended the Labour leader, saying he was “not the Foreign Secretary” and that it is Mr Johnson with “responsibility to act on behalf… of UK citizens.”
“At the end of the day it’s not just Jeremy Corbyn effectively making these calls. There are other people, I’m making the call, because at the end of the day, the Foreign Secretary is not doing his job.” he added.