Diane Abbott

Sunseeker I'd say it's a generalisation. Whether generalisations are racist is open to interpretation Maybe DA felt she knew the West Indian community well enough to make that comment, but Andrew Neil felt that her implication was precluding mothers of other ethnicities of doing the same. It was quite a heated exchange if I remember rightly and I think DA uttered that line "I can't defend the indefensible,"she didn't come out of it particularly well and I think it's something as a far left politician she will find hard to live down. As for as my comment "I think Asian mothers go to the wall for their children re education" It's an observation, as I said, the Asian intake in my local grammar, my husband's grammar over the other side of London and indeed grammar schools generally around London have an extremely high Asian intake. I didn't mean that in a negative sense, Asians Indians/Chinese seem to value education and they are well represented in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, accountancy and law.

Exactly! It is a generalisation, but it's also true that certain cultures place a very high value on education and the mother is often the lynchpin. Indian and Chines children are over-represented in grammar schools relative to the number of them in the country and they do well in public exams.

What made me laugh in the interview (radio, LBC?) was when the presenter queried her figures she said 'I didn't say that number, you did!' After we all heard her say that same number.She will blame anyone else but herself.

Most mothers would 'go to the wall' for their children and that includes all nationalities, so Abbott was daft to use that as an excuse for her sending her children to private school! Furthermore.....can you imagine the furore if a white politician had made that remark?

She's not the only one who makes mistakes.

skwalker1964.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/tory-hell-poster.jpg?w=560

I don't understand why DA didn't have the facts and figures in front of her as it was a radio interview. I agree with MawBroon on that. Should have listened to the adage - fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

I've been out all afternoon at a beautiful film about Emily Dickinson (A Quiet Passion) but if I may would like to go back to your remark Daphnedill about racist/sexist prejudice.
I fior one have no quarrel with Diane Abbott on either of those grounds. I may disagree (very much) with her politics, but my criticism of her Radio omnishambles is entirely based on her incompetence.
If anyone can think of a valid reason for JC's apparently unswerving loyalty and faith in her other than 1), 2, or 3) above or maybe 4) he is a poor judge of character, I have yet to hear it.
I realise the thread has moved on of course.

I don't know where she was born but she sounds to me like someone who has had elecution lessons = voice training
her pronouncments all come out floating along a breath like when I learned to sing as a teenager.

durhamjen
It that your best shot in defence of comrade Abbott. I was expecting something interesting or even informative. Sadly it was neither.

I failed to see any connection between a politician in a poster obviously the work of an opposing party and the shadow Home Secretary not knowing costings of more police officers her leader had announced that morning

Clutching at straws annie

I was shocked and disappointed by DA's dreadful performance. It's ludicrous to defend her by suggesting her aids let her down, didn't prepare for her. She's shadow Home Secretary, being interviewed about her parties plans to improve things for the police and she doesn't have the figures fixed in her head, Why? I

I've always found her patronising but she seems to be developing into an art form. Extra slow, breathy speech patterns in which she doesn't seem able to string words together effectively or concisely. She is dreadful and its a measure of the position of Jeremy Corbyn in the LP that she's one of his key people. He said he wasn't embarrassed by the interview, why wasn't he? Most other people were.

It's a Tory poster, Annie.

Exactly Iam64 and you can't defend the indefensible.

You're absolutely right, Iam64. The whole interview was excrutiatingly embarrassing - although not to JC apparently.

Did any one see Micheal Crick interviewing people in Mansfield Re local by elections? I think it was truly some of the worst comments I've heard Re Corbyn.
It's worth a look on catch up.

Yes, it was cringeworthy and she got her decimal point in the wrong place. I am not a DA fan, but I can sympathise with a case of brain freeze. Which of us has never forgotten some fact or other out of the blue? Last week I completely forgot my PIN number, a number I use everyday.

Do we need more police? That's the main issue surely.

A Tory poster with Corbyn airbrushed out? We realy can trust skwalker !

The full poster not airbrushed

www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/03/tories-lay-in-to-jeremy-corbyn-with-tax-bombshell-advert#img-1

skwawkbox.org/2017/05/03/debt-taxes-hell-for-your-family-accidental-tory-truth-in-advertising-ge17/

Real staunch Labour, you are, Annie.

Yes I am Jen, always have been, which is why I cannot and will not support a Corbyn-Momentun party . I am a member of Welsh Labour.

We have a very troubling day to morrow, Welsh Labour is fighting to hold onto 700 Welsh labour councillor seats. If we lose many then we will be in fear of losing Welsh Labour MP's come the general election. Welsh labour could not be the party with the most MP's for the first time.

I forgive her everything for the wonderful laugh I enjoyed first thing in the morning. Brightened my day

daphnedill, if the Conservatives win the next election, there'll be millions forced to do that very thing! At least you'd be doing it by choice....

I can't feel sorry for total incompetence and a patronising attitude. This woman is a hypocrite of the first order. My embarrassment would be over whelming if JC, in some wild fantasy disaster, become Prime Minister. Can you picture him strutting the world stage, the very picture of statesmanship, representing this country?

When people get up and make ridiculous and impossible promises, all of which are to be funded by 'the rich', then I feel sorry for all of us - how could anyone believe them? How many really rich people are there, how long would the assets stripped from them last, and does anyone think the seriously rich would stay in this country for five minutes if Labour got in? A whole load of silly talk from Dianne Abbott is just what the country needs to hear - a foretaste of what would happen, and I too will be in that cave eating...grass perhaps.

I do not admire Abbot in the slightest but come on, give her praise where its due, the recruitment of 250,000 extra Bobbies at 7 quid a week would be fabulous, she could then recruit nurses for a fiver.........She isn't up to the job whatever colour she is. She instantly tried to blame the interviewer when things started to slide away from her, shoddy behaviour but she is known for it.

I thought she was comedy gold and worthy of her own TV series, anything but government.

All mothers do their very best for their children and she is racist to suggest otherwise and a hypocrite for choosing for her own son things she would deny other chidren. Her trying to make a virtue out of that was reprehensible.

She must be great in the sack for Corbyn to keep her on, but then everyone else in Labour walked out on him, and if your'e looking to fill the opposition benches she certainly has the bulk for it, not heard her views on the obesity crisis but they would be fun....let's have her for Health secretary.