Diane Abbott is BACK: Jeremy Corbyn says Hackney MP returned as Shadow Home Secretary
JEREMY Corbyn has confirmed Diane Abbott has returned to her post as Shadow Home Secretary after being temporarily removed in the days before the election.
Corbyn confirms Abbott is still Shadow Home Secretary
The Labour leader, speaking on ITV’s Peston on Sunday, insisted his colleague was receiving “all the support necessary” after it was announced she was suffering ill health from Type 2 diabetes.
Presenter Robert Peston asked: “Can I just check because I saw Diane Abbott the other day and she looks fit and well again, is she back as Shadow Home Secretary?”
Mr Corbyn replied: “Yes, look, Diane suffered from Type 2 diabetes and suffered a great deal during the last part of the election campaign.
“And I had a chat with her during that period and we felt it was right that she took a break from intensive campaigning at a national level.”
Jeremy Corbyn confirmed Diane Abbott would continue as shadow home secretary
She is getting all the support necessary and she is the shadow home secretary
When pushed further on whether she was back on the “front line”, he insisted: “She is getting all the support necessary and she is the Shadow Home Secretary.”
Ms Abbott was removed from the post following a series of car-crash interviews and temporarily replaced by Lyn Brown.
After grilling from LBC’s Nick Ferrari, the Labour politician was left floundering as she was unable to say how much her party’s pledge to increase police officer numbers would cost.
Colleague Barry Gardiner spoke out at the time she was temporarily removed from her post.
Diane Abbott wins overwhelming majority in Hackney
He said Ms Abbott’s “long-term illness” had affected “the way in which she had been operating”.
He told talkRADIO’s Julia Hartley-Brewer: “Diane is clearly not well and I understand that it’s a condition which has been diagnosed and is long-term.
“And I think anybody who’s seen her in the past couple of weeks would realise that she was showing that she was not well in the way in which she had been operating.
“I’m sorry for her obviously, that she’s got this condition, and clearly it’s now a matter for her to get properly diagnosed, properly treated and I wish her very well.”