Editing Diane Abbott (section)

===2017 general election===
[[File:Diane Abbot Corbyn leadership rally August 2016.jpg|left|thumb|Abbott at a [[2016 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|Jeremy Corbyn leadership]] rally in August 2016]]
On 2 May 2017, during [[2017 United Kingdom general election|that year's general election]] campaign, Labour's pledge to recruit an extra 10,000 police officers was overshadowed by Abbott's inability to give accurate [[Funding|funding figures]]. In an interview on [[LBC]] Radio with [[Nick Ferrari]], she repeatedly struggled to explain how the promise would be funded. In the interview, Abbott frequently paused, shuffled her papers and gave out the wrong [[Number|figures]].<ref>Crace, John (2 May 2017), [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/02/diane-abbott-has-several-numbers-on-police-costs-sadly-they-are-all-wrong The Politics sketch], ''The Guardian''.</ref> When asked about her performance, the Labour leader, [[Jeremy Corbyn]], insisted he was not embarrassed by what many pundits called a "[[car crash]]" [[interview]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Abbott |first=Diane |date=2 May 2017 |title=Diane Abbott says she 'misspoke' on Labour's police policy |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39775693 |url-status=live |access-date=2 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502021935/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39775693 |archive-date=2 May 2017}}</ref>

In a further interview conducted by [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] on 5 May 2017, as the [[2017 United Kingdom local elections|2017 local elections]] results were being announced, Abbott was again unable to give accurate figures on the Labour Party's performance suggesting that the party had a net loss of 50 seats. However, her figure was corrected by the interviewer who stated that Labour had in fact lost 125 seats, at which point Abbott said that the last figures she had seen were a net loss of around 100.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maidment |first=Jack |date=5 May 2017 |title=Diane Abbott Labour Count Error |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/05/diane-abbott-suffers-another-disastrous-interview-massively/ |url-status=live |access-date=6 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505175257/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/05/diane-abbott-suffers-another-disastrous-interview-massively/ |archive-date=5 May 2017}}</ref>

Appearing on [[Andrew Marr]]'s Sunday morning programme for the [[BBC]] on 28&nbsp;May, Abbott's apparent support for the [[#IRA|IRA]] nearly 35 years ago came up, along with some parliamentary votes Marr thought questionable. These included her advocacy of the abolition of "conspiratorial groups" such as [[MI5]] and [[Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|Special Branch]] in the late 1980s, both of which she said had been successfully reformed. She defended a vote opposing the proscription of a list of groups, including [[al-Qaida]], on the basis that some of the others had the status of dissidents in their country of origin and Abbott would have voted to ban al-Qaida in isolation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Syal |first=Rajeev |date=28 May 2017 |title=Diane Abbott compares IRA views to changing hairstyles |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/28/diane-abbott-under-fire--afro-remark-questioned-about-ira |url-status=live |access-date=28 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528112708/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/28/diane-abbott-under-fire--afro-remark-questioned-about-ira |archive-date=28 May 2017}}</ref> According to [[Sam Coates]] in ''[[The Times]]'', this appearance was arranged without the consent of Labour's campaign team.<ref name="Coates030617">{{cite news |last=Coates |first=Sam |date=3 June 2017 |title=Labour frontbench fury as Diane Abbott goes rogue |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/labour-frontbench-fury-as-diane-abbott-goes-rogue-s0cjmsshl |url-status=live |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170603012819/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/labour-frontbench-fury-as-diane-abbott-goes-rogue-s0cjmsshl |archive-date=3 June 2017}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

[[File:Diane Abbott (25795818902).jpg|thumb|236x236px|Abbott at a rally in [[Trafalgar Square]] in 2016]]

On 5 June 2017, during a [[Sky News]] interview, Abbott was unable to answer questions about the Harris report on how to protect London from terror attacks. She insisted that she had read the report, but was unable to recall any of the 127 recommendations. When asked if she could remember the specific recommendations, Abbott said: "I think it was an important review and we should act on it."<ref>{{cite news |last=Jamieson |first=Sophie |date=6 June 2017 |title=Diane Abbott suffers yet another car crash interview, as she flounders on details of anti-terror report |work=The Telegraph |publisher=Telegraph Media Group |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/06/diane-abbott-flounders-details-anti-terror-report-another-awkward/ |url-status=live |access-date=18 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619011331/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/06/diane-abbott-flounders-details-anti-terror-report-another-awkward/ |archive-date=19 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Austin |first=Henry |date=6 June 2017 |title=Diane Abbott struggles with questions on recent London terror report in latest bungled interview |work=Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/diane-abbott-general-election-latest-car-crash-interview-dermot-murnaghan-lord-harris-terror-report-a7774626.html |url-status=live |access-date=18 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625070837/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/diane-abbott-general-election-latest-car-crash-interview-dermot-murnaghan-lord-harris-terror-report-a7774626.html |archive-date=25 June 2017}}</ref> Abbott also denied reports that Corbyn and shadow chancellor [[John McDonnell]] were attempting to stop her from making broadcasts.<ref name="Coates030617" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Watts |first=Joe |date=6 June 2017 |title=Diane Abbott pulls out of Woman's Hour election debate with Amber Rudd after another bungled interview |work=Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/diane-abbott-womans-hour-election-debate-radio-4-amber-rudd-sky-news-interview-labour-shadow-home-a7774906.html |url-status=live |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606123759/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/diane-abbott-womans-hour-election-debate-radio-4-amber-rudd-sky-news-interview-labour-shadow-home-a7774906.html |archive-date=6 June 2017}}</ref> The next day, Abbott withdrew at the last minute – citing illness – from a joint interview on ''[[Woman's Hour]]'' on 6 June, in which she had been due to face her Conservative frontbench opposite number [[Amber Rudd]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Stewart |first=Heather |date=6 June 2017 |title=Diane Abbott pulls out of Woman's Hour debate due to illness |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/06/diane-abbott-pulls-out-of-womans-hour-debate-due-to-illness |url-status=live |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606101104/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/06/diane-abbott-pulls-out-of-womans-hour-debate-due-to-illness |archive-date=6 June 2017}}</ref> On 7 June, Corbyn announced that Abbott was "not well" and had stepped aside in her role as Shadow Home Secretary. [[Lyn Brown]] was temporarily assigned to replace her.<ref name="Walker">{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Peter |last2=Stewart |first2=Heather |date=7 June 2017 |title=Diane Abbott to step down 'for the period of her ill health', Corbyn says |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/07/diane-abbott-to-step-aside-for-the-period-of-her-ill-health-corbyn-says |url-status=live |access-date=7 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607093326/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/07/diane-abbott-to-step-aside-for-the-period-of-her-ill-health-corbyn-says |archive-date=7 June 2017 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> [[Barry Gardiner]] said in a radio interview on LBC that Abbott had been diagnosed with having a "long-term" medical condition, and was "coming to terms with that".<ref name="Walker" />

The following week it became known that Abbott had been diagnosed with [[type 2 diabetes]] in 2015.<ref name="Asthana">{{cite news |last1=Asthana |first1=Anushka |last2=Stewart |first2=Heather |date=13 June 2017 |title=Diane Abbott reveals illness and hits out at 'vicious' Tory campaign |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/13/diane-abbott-reveals-illness-and-hits-out-at-vicious-tory-campaign |url-status=live |access-date=13 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613214452/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/13/diane-abbott-reveals-illness-and-hits-out-at-vicious-tory-campaign |archive-date=13 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="BBC News">{{cite news |date=13 June 2017 |title=Diane Abbott reveals she has type 2 diabetes |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40268505 |url-status=live |access-date=14 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614004056/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40268505 |archive-date=14 June 2017}}</ref> "During the election campaign, everything went crazy – and the diabetes was out of control, the blood sugar was out of control", she told ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref name="Asthana" /> Dealing with six or seven interviews in a row became problematic because she was not eating enough food, which forced a break upon her; however, the condition is back under control.<ref name="Asthana" /> Abbott returned to the role of Shadow Home Secretary on 18 June.<ref>{{cite news |date=18 June 2017 |title=Diane Abbott back in shadow cabinet after diabetes struggle |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40319561 |url-status=live |access-date=18 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618123108/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40319561 |archive-date=18 June 2017}}</ref>