'Not embarrassed IN THE SLIGHTEST' Corbyn defends Diane Abbott after police pledge gaffe
JEREMY CORBYN has come to the defence of Diane Abbott following her car-crash interview on LBC in which she became confused about the cost of introducing 10,000 additional police officers.
Corbyn: 'Not embarrassed in the slightest' by Abbott mistake
The Labour party leader said he was “not embarrassed in the slightest” by the blunder and clarified the cost of his party’s pledge as £300million.
It comes after the shadow home secretary suggested new recruits would only be paid “£8,000 a year” after an intense probing from LBC host Nick Ferrari.
She said on the show: “Well if we recruit the 10,000 men and women over a four-year period, we believe it will be about £300,000.”
She later added: “No, I mean, sorry, they will cost, it will cost about, about £80m.”
Jeremy Corbyn defended Diane Abbott after her car-crash interview on LBC
Nick Ferrari ROASTS Diane Abbott about police officer policy
We’ve corrected the figure and it will be absolutely clear now, today and in the manifesto. I’m not embarrassed in the slightest
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Corbyn said: “She corrected the figure [to £300m] and that is the figure and it will be paid for by not going ahead with the cuts in capital gains tax.”
When asked if it had caused his party embarrassment, he said: “Not at all, we’ve corrected the figure and it will be absolutely clear now, today and in the manifesto. I’m not embarrassed in the slightest.”
The plan could see 10,000 additional community police officers across the 43 forces in England and Wales by reversing Conservative plans for cuts to capital gains tax.
Ms Abbott said it would enable extra police officers to be on the beat in every electoral ward across the country.
Diane Abbott has had a whole morning of challenging interviews
The Labour MP’s gaffe came after a morning of tough interviews on the policy.
BBC Radio 4’s John Humphrys was among those to roast the politician on the pledge, repeatedly asking her if it could be funded along with pledges to increase spending on schools, the arts and welfare,
The presenter said: “It is not flippant to say to a party ‘you have made these various promises, now how are you going to fund them?’
“If you give us the same cuts that you’ve applied to other things, then we’re entitled to say – we’re indeed obliged to say – ‘but hang on you’ve already promised that money somewhere else’.”
Ms Abbott fired back: “And I’m obliged to say that we will have a fully costed manifesto.”