BORIS Johnson today condemned a veteran Guardian columnist who resigned from City University after revealing he backed the IRA.
Roy Greenslade, 74, quit his post as a journalism lecturer at the university after 'coming out of hiding' to justify the IRA using deadly violence.
Mr Greenslade secretly wrote for the republican newsletter An Phoblacht and provided bail surety for an IRA man accused of involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing.
His views emerged a few years ago but he "came out ofhiding" over the weekend to reinforce them.
The comments have now been slammed by the Prime Minister.
Mr Johnson said he "outright condemns" the remarks, which included saying that the murder of innocent civilians by IRA terrorists was "justifiable".
The PM's official spokesman said: "All I can say is the simple fact that the PM outright condemns his comments, as I have said specifically those about the killing of civilians."
The columnist told the British Journalism Review at the weekend he was in "complete agreement about the right of the Irish people to engage in armed struggle".
Mr Greenslade said: “I came to accept the fight between the forces of the state and a group of insurgents was unequal and therefore could not be fought on conventional terms.
“In other words, I supported the use of physical force.”
He added: “However much I believed its tactics to be valid, I could not hope to convince colleagues that the killing of civilians, albeit by accident, was justifiable.”
The media analyst also confirmed he is a member of Sinn Fein, the one-time political wing of the IRA.
The IRA killed hundreds of civilians during its campaign of violence, including children.
And Mr Greenslade resigned from his position as honorary visiting professor of journalism at City University of London today following an outcry from the families of IRA victims.
He told MailPlus Political Correspondent Michael Crick that the decision was: "Purely mine. No pressure. Just the reverse."
The former Guardian columnist had already retired from a full-time post at City University, where he lectured in ethics, in 2018, but he has "occasionally" returned as a guest speaker.
Mr Greenslade once guaranteed bail for John Downey, an IRA member accused of participating in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing that killed four soldiers and seven horses.
Mark Tipper, whose brother Simon was among the dead, said: “Downey spent 37 years fighting to evade and escape justice, never disavowing violence.
“While Greenslade continues to prove himself a coward and a fraud.”
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