The van that Darren Osborne drove into a crowd of people outside a Mosque in London last year contained a note which branded Jeremy Corbyn a “terrorist sympathiser.”

And when asked in court last month if he planned to kill the Labour leader, Osborne said: “Oh yeah, it would be one less terrorist [on] our streets. And if Sadiq Khan [the London mayor] had been there it would have been even better. It would have been like winning the lottery.”

It’s clear where Osborne got the idea from. The Tories have been desperately trying to paint Corbyn as some sort of enemy within since as far back as 2015.

David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson are all guilty of it.

So in a way it was no surprise to see Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson to do it yesterday in response to the Sun’s spy smear. He said:

“Jeremy Corbyn has never had Britain’s interests at heart. Time and time again he has sided with those who want to destroy everything that is great about this country, whether it is sympathising with terrorists, backing rogue regimes, or cosying up to those who want to inflict pain and misery on the British people.”

The difference is this time is that his comments come shortly after we learned of Darren Osborne’s fantasy to kill Corbyn based on that Tory attack line.

As Corbyn’s spokesman said:

“Gavin Williamson should focus on his job and not give credence to entirely false and ridiculous smears, which as we know from Darren Osborne, can have a potentially deadly effect.”

How irresponsible can you get?

MORE: Williamson accused Corbyn of “cosying up” to Britain’s enemies – days after it was revealed he’ll dine with wife of Putin protégé