Who is the man behind Jeremy Corbyn’s “digital democracy” launch today? Meet Richard Barbrook, a mate of John McDonnell and academic at the University of Westminster who describes himself as a “cybernetic communist” and wrote the book on “Cyber-Communism”. And it gets a lot more sinister than that…

Photos on Barbrook’s Facebook page show he regularly wears the badge of Óglaigh na hÉireann. Translated as “soldiers of Ireland” and bearing the words “undefeated army”, it has been used by numerous armed republican groups including the Provisional IRA, the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA. More recently, it has been the name of an IRA splinter group which has carried out attacks on the police and army since 2009. In the photo on the left Barbrook can be seen wearing the badge. The photo on the right is a close up in which Barbrook is wearing the same badge. He has been tagged in the photo by a friend.

The father of Jeremy Corbyn’s new digital campaign is a self-proclaimed communist who supports the IRA’s armed struggle – he believes in bombing democracy…