Diane abbott

Last night, Diane Abbott appeared — perhaps for the first time — to have something in common with Philip Hammond. Weeks after Theresa May refused to confirm her Chancellor’s job security post-election, Jeremy Corbyn declined to say Comrade Abbott would be Home Secretary in a Labour government. Given that his comments followed Abbott’s disastrous interview on Sky News, and after she cancelled two scheduled media appearances (apparently due to ill health), many took it to be a sign that Abbott’s time as shadow home secretary was running out. Today Labour have issued a statement announcing that Corbyn has asked Lyn Brown to stand in for Abbott as Shadow Home Secretary for the period

Last night, Diane Abbott used an appearance on Sky News to insist that she had not been sidelined by the Leader’s Office in light of her recent interview performances. However, in that same interview she went on to generate more negative headlines when the shadow home secretary appeared to have little to no knowledge of the Lord Harris report on improving London’s terror preparedness. So, Mr S was curious to learn that today Abbott has mysteriously dropped out of a scheduled appearance on Woman’s Hour – with Emily Thornberry being lined up to replace her. While one Labour source tells Steerpike that Abbott has been ‘spoken to’ following her disastrous interview

With Theresa May on the back foot today over Tory cuts to police numbers, CCHQ can count their lucky stars that Diane Abbott has been doing the media rounds this evening. The shadow home secretary was interviewed by Dermot Murnaghan this evening on Labour’s position on terrorism measures following Saturday’s attack. However, Abbott soon hit a problem when Murnaghan asked her about the 2016 Lord Harris report on improving London’s terror preparedness. It soon became clear that Abbott was not familiar with its contents – not that she was willing to admit this: DA: I think we do need to revisit that report DM: Which part of it? DA: Well, I

The ongoing argument about Jeremy Corbyn’s support for the ‘armed struggle’ of the Provisional IRA is vacuous and circular. Very few people endorse every single action of any group they support, but Corbyn and his circle were always there to lend their support, particularly when the Provisionals were in difficulty. There are thousands of Labour supporters, in both islands, who were involved in this area over many years, and who know that Corbyn and a small group of extreme leftists in Britain made common cause with the most extreme violent nationalists in Ireland, in order to advance what they saw as revolutionary struggle. From the Socialist Workers Party to the

Amber Rudd – Abedi operation is still at ‘full tilt’ In the wake of Monday’s horrific attack in Manchester, Andrew Marr interviewed the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, about what action the government was taking in the aftermath of the attack, and whether the government and security services had done enough to prevent the attack happening in the first place: AM: You’ve downgraded the threat level one point, and we hear that a large part of the group around this terrorist have been apprehended and taken. Does that mean that some of the group are still out there? AR: Potentially. I mean, it’s an ongoing operation, there are 11 people in

The chances of my 20-year-old student son being at an Ariana Grande concert on a Monday night were, my head told me, zero. But as I watched ambulances converge on the arena, my maternal heart was in my mouth. Oliver had just been to the premier league darts at the venue (like me, there is no sport my son doesn’t enjoy watching). I called. No answer. I sent a text. ‘Don’t go near Manchester Arena — explosion.’ Then another one. ‘Let me know you’re OK.’ He was. But those teenagers, all those girls. Eight years old. The nation weeps for other people’s children. The day I went Yellow Tory and

The crapness of Corbyn’s Labour is a phenomenon. It fascinates me. Frankly, it does my head in. For there is a theory, you see, that Corbyn’s Labour isn’t really crap at all. That it is all a conspiracy. That journalists such as me, who I suspect are ‘neoliberal’ or something, merely construct a narrative demonising it as such. Where politicians match our prejudices, this theory goes, we give them enormous leeway and spring to their defence. When they don’t, we supposedly deem them ‘mad’ or ‘radical’ or, yes, ‘crap’, in a spirit of sheer defensiveness. It’s a neat theory, this, and very occasionally I even find myself wondering if it

I awoke this morning to hear Diane Abbott’s brains leaking out of her ears and all over the carpet during an interview with LBC’s excellent Nick Ferrari. You will need a mop and a bucket very sharpish, I thought to myself, as she gabbled on, the hole beneath her feet growing ­larger with every syllable she uttered. Diane has had the brain leakage problem before, many times, and my worry is that following the LBC debacle there is almost nothing left inside her skull at all, just a thin ­greyish residue resembling a particular kind of fungi or leaf mould. This would leave Diane on an intellectual par with Emily ­Thornberry,

Diane Abbott suggested last year that some voters backed Brexit because they wanted to see ‘less foreign-looking people on their streets’. On Question Time yesterday, she finally got her comeuppance. A furious Leave supporter took her to task on the show by asking her whether she had any remorse for her remarks. The audience member told her: ‘You say you respect the will of the people, but do you have any remorse or any apologies to make for the disgusting lie you made against me and millions of innocent people that voted Leave – that because they voted Leave, they don’t like the look of foreign people and must be racist

After the government’s Brexit Bill passed through the Commons unamended, whips, government ministers and Brexiteers were in the mood to celebrate. Alas, not everyone was on the same page. Although Diane Abbott was well enough to vote for Article 50 today, the shadow home secretary is far from happy about the government’s plans for a ‘Tory Brexit’. So, it was unfortunate timing that she ran into an elated David Davis in Strangers’ bar this evening. Riding high on the day’s events, the Brexit secretary approached Abbott and proceeded to try and plant a celebratory kiss on her. Her response? Abbott proceeded to tell him to ‘f— off’. Mr S suspects Davis ought to buy Abbott a ‘never kiss a

It’s a miracle. After coming down with a migraine at the exact time of the Article 50 vote last week, Diane Abbott was accused of having a case of ‘Brexit flu’ and ‘bottling’ the vote. However, worried colleagues and supporters can today breathe a collective sigh of relief that the shadow home secretary has made a speedy recovery. Looking a picture of health, Abbott has just made her way into the Chamber for the Prime Minister’s statement on the Malta summit. Mr S just hopes she remains well enough to vote tonight on the Article 50 amendments…

After Diane Abbott missed the Article 50 vote thanks to ‘a migraine’, her comrade John Mann accused the shadow home secretary of ‘bottling it’ over Brexit. Since then, a #PrayForDiane email has been doing the rounds among Labour MPs. In a further sign that Abbott’s claims of suffering are not being taken entirely seriously by her party, Caroline Flint has just put the boot in on Peston on Sunday. The Labour MP suggested Abbott’s migraine was really a case of ‘Brexit flu’: ‘We used to have man flu, now we have Brexit flu – that Diane has created here.’ Flint went on to say that Abbott ought to resign if she can’t support Corbyn on Article

As Diane Abbott continues to receive flak today for missing the Article 50 vote thanks to ‘a migraine’ (with #PrayForDiane doing the rounds among Labour MPs), the shadow home secretary is in need of some good press. Alas, with Abbott ducking questions from an ITV reporter last night, she doesn’t appear to be keen on mending press relations herself. Happily help may soon be at hand. Abbott is advertising for a communications officer. The lucky applicant must ‘be at ease in a high pressure environment and have a proven track record in press work and be able to work flexible hours’. Surely a contender for toughest job in Westminster?

Oh dear. With Diane Abbott currently off work with ‘a migraine’, the shadow home secretary is facing a growing work headache. After missing the Article 50 vote due to illness, questions have been raised over Abbott’s ability to speak at a Westminster Hall debate just three hours before falling so ill she could not vote. But surely her comrades have her back at this difficult time? Apparently not. Labour’s John Mann has taken to the airwaves to lambast Abbott for ‘bottling it’ over Brexit: ‘It’s quite extraordinary. We have some very, very ill people who turned up to Parliament to vote yesterday, who are so sick they’ve not been able