During the BBC 's '' Newsnight '' in 1984 , Conservative MP Terry Dicks asserted that so-called Labour scruffs ( such as Corbyn , who at this time was known for wearing an old polo-necked sweater to the Commons ) should be banned from addressing the House of Commons unless they maintained higher standards . Corbyn responded , saying that : " It 's not a fashion parade , it 's not a gentleman 's club , it 's not a bankers ' institute , it 's a place where the people are represented . " In the 1980s Corbyn took a keen interest in the conflict in Northern Ireland . He wanted to develop dialogue with the Irish Republican Party Sinn Féin and so , when Gerry Adams became the first Sinn Fein MP in 1983 , Corbyn met with Adams at Westminster along with a number of other Labour MPs . In 1984 , Corbyn and Ken Livingstone invited Adams , two convicted IRA volunteers and other members of Sinn Féin to Westminster . The meeting took place three weeks after the Brighton hotel bombing , an attack on the Conservative Party leadership carried out by the IRA that killed five people . He became known during the 1980s for his work on behalf of the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six , who were eventually found to have been wrongly convicted of responsibility for fatal IRA bombings in England in the mid-70s . In the run up to the 2017 general election , Corbyn said that he had " never met the IRA " , although Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott later clarified that although he had met members of the IRA , " he met with them in their capacity as activists in Sinn Fein "
Brighton hotel bombing
Brighton hotel bombing
Jeremy Corbyn