This is a photo from Tony Benn’s funeral

18 November 2019
What was claimed

This is a photo of Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Jeremy Corbyn together.

Our verdict

True, all three were attendees of Tony Benn’s funeral in 2014, along with many other politicians.

A photo of Jeremy Corbyn, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness standing near one another has been shared thousands of times of Facebook. Based on the comments in the post, the suggestion is that this is controversial as it illustrates Mr Corbyn’s close links with the Sinn Féin leadership. 

This is a genuine photo of Mr Corbyn, Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness. The context (as can be seen in the uncropped version) is that it was taken during the funeral of Labour MP Tony Benn in 2014. 

Photographs from the day show Mr Adams and other Sinn Féin members near other political figures who also attended the funeral. Figures from across the political spectrum attended, from former Conservative minister Lord Heseltine to former National Union of Mineworkers leader Arthur Scargill. 

Tony Benn was a supporter of Irish unification and controversially invited Adams to speak at Westminster in 1993. (Mr Corbyn also met with Mr Adams during the Troubles.)

At the time of the funeral, Mr McGuinness was Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, and Mr Adams was the president of Sinn Féin and a member of the Dáil Éireann.

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