After London terror, time for ‘difficult conversations’ with Saudi, says British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn

British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives to deliver a speech at the County Hotel in Carlisle, Cumbria, on June 4, 2017 in response to the terror attack on London Bridge. (Photos by AFP)

British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn says it is time for the UK to hold "difficult conversations" with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf in the wake of the London terror attack.

Terror on and near the London Bridge left at least seven people dead and wounded almost 50 others on Saturday.

"Yes, we do need to have some difficult conversations starting with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states that have funded and fueled extremist ideology," Corbyn said in Carlisle, north England, on Sunday.

People hold up signs in solidarty with victims of the London terror attack outside the County Hotel in Carlisle, Cumbria, on June 4, 2017.

Daesh claims responsibility

Saudi Arabia and some of its regional allies have already been implicated in support for Takfiri terrorism, currently wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria.

On Saturday, three knife-wielding assailants drove a hired van into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed others nearby in an attack initially praised and subsequently claimed by the Daesh Takfiri group.

"A detachment of Islamic State fighters executed yesterday's London attack," said a statement posted on Amaq's media page, monitored in Cairo. 

Stationary buses and a large white van operated by the police to remove the van used in the attack on London Bridge are seen on London Bridge on June 4, 2017, with Tower Bridge in the background as police continue their investigations following the terror attack on the bridge and at the nearby Borough Market on June 3.

The opposition leader, who will face Prime Minister Theresa May in a June 8 snap election, also censured Islamophobia in the wake of the attack.

"We must resist Islamophobia and division and turn out on June 8 united in our determination to show our democracy is strong," asserted the Labour leader.