Libya's support for the IRA was tit for tat. The British state, being a US lapdog, hated any government with an independent minded foreign policy or a national minded domestic policy. Which is to say this was essentially in response to British hostility over nationalization of British oil holdings and support for Israel and compliant Arab governments. Not to say I particularly favor the cause here but I do understand it and Western governments suck, even if Western peoples don't. Indeed, Western governments don't even care about their own people. In this case more Zionist Jews and oil companies.