WATCH: Excruciating moment Diane Abbott is forced to LISTEN BACK to car-crash interview
THIS is the excruciating moment Diane Abbott was forced to listen back to a car-crash radio interview where she fluffed her sums over Labour’s promise to introduce 10,000 new police officers.
Excruciating moment Abbott is forced to listen back to interview
The shadow home secretary appeared stone-faced as the painful clip was replayed during an episode of the BBC’s Daily Politics Show on Tuesday.
It came after Ms Abbott caused a storm when she got muddled on LBC, telling Nick Ferrari Labour would spend £300,000 over four years on thousands of new coppers - the equivalent of just £30 per officer.
The extraordinary gaffe has since hit the headlines across the country, with Jeremy Corbyn downplaying the mistake saying he was “not embarrassed in the slightest”.
That is hugely embarrassing
However, in a relentless grilling, Ms Abbott was forced to defend herself, as she insisted that “I do know my figures”.
She told host Jo Coburn: “I did seven interviews that morning and that was the seventh, I misspoke, but I do know my figures.”
It was at that moment Ms Abbott was forced to listen to a 45-second extract of the toe-curling encounter.
The camera stayed locked on to the shadow home secretary as she awkwardly smiled during the most cringeworthy parts.
At the end of it, Coburn did not let up, as she fired: “That is hugely embarrassing, that’s not just misspeaking to quote you a bit earlier, you just don’t know your figures and you’re not on top of your brief.”
Ms Abbott tried desperately to defend the agonising mistake, saying: “If I didn’t know my figures why was I able to do six other interviews and give the figures correctly."
She added: “You need to ask why the Conservative Party is so anxious to move the party away from the 20,000 police officers we’ve lost since 2010.”
Nick Ferrari ROASTS Diane Abbott about police officer policy
Coburn was instantly dismissive of Ms Abbott’s excuse, as she retorted: “Never mind that you did six or seven interviews, this is now an election campaign, front benchers and government ministers are expected to do reams of interviews.
“This was a major policy announcement for you, by your own words you want to make this a cornerstone of your manifesto - you didn’t know the figures.”
In an ultra-defensive move, a tetchy Ms Abbott snapped, saying she was “concerned” the BBC presenter “did not want to talk about policing”.
Ms Abbott thundered: “You want to go over and over a Nick Ferrari interview.
“The public will understand that you’re not willing to talk about the real issues, the real issues are that we have lost 20,000 police officers since 2010.”