McGuinness rebukes Tebbit’s hope he might be shot for attending banquet

Northern Ireland deputy first minister and ex-IRA commander Martin McGuinness has rebuked Norman Tebbit for saying he hopes he is shot in the back for attending a State banquet at the invitation of the Queen.

Mr McGuinness said the reaction of the former Conservative chairman to his historic visit to Windsor was “not fitting” for someone who holds high political office.

“Norman Tebbit, too, and his family have been very badly hurt by the conflict,” he said. “I absolutely understand that. Obviously the sentiments that he has expressed, I think, are not fitting for someone in the elected position he has been in for a very long time.”