Cutting loose deadwood: Shambolic Shadow Home Sec Diane Abbott is entirely unfit to be Home Sec, in a street in Glasgow, a female Labour activist was put on the spot about Diane Abbott even before the epic meltdown on SKY with Dermot Murnaghan, how can you disagree with a voter who calls her rubbish and a liability

Dear All

One of the things I like when I go on the doorstep campaigning is to run across knowledgeable people who take an interest in politics; I find that a real treat, although I impart information, I certain enjoy when people put me on the spot. In politics, it is impossible to know everything about everything, but if you hold a shadow cabinet position, you are required to keep up to date with current events and reports.

Because in the space of one day, you may find yourself elected to the hot seat of the government portfolio which you are shadowing!

The job of Home Secretary is an important position in British Government, although more glam is given to the PM, the Foreign Sec and of course Chancellor.

Diane Abbott has had a series of interviews where is it patently obvious that she doesn’t understand her brief, she is entirely unsuitable to the role, and has no depth of knowledge.

On a doorstep in Glasgow, I was going round with a woman called Robin to chat to voters, so….. we get to this door and the guy behind it answers, and we get chatting, he was sitting on the fence, so I made my pitch. He then turn rounds and says he could never see Diane Abbott as Home Sec, so he asks Robin who came out for the day to campaign for a Labour candidate, what did she think.

It was hilarious because the answer was so obvious that Robin couldn’t say it, where could she take the conservation from that having been put on the spot. So, I answered, I told the guy that he was right, and said:

“Diane Abbott is fucking useless, and I couldn’t see her as Home Secretary either”.

We left the guy still undecided but with doubt, the doubt was did he want to pass up getting someone who could be a constituency MP for him, his family and his area.

As,we left, Robin and me chatted about the encounter, and she didn’t expect to get thrown such a curve ball, but I explained that is what politics is about, someone somewhere is going to ask you the ‘awkward question’. Although the correct answer was Diane Abbott was useless, telling the truth is sometimes like taking the leap of faith. The guy was right, so I reinforced his opinion, but said to him that politics is like football, not all the best players are in the same team.

Diane Abbott should never have been appointed as Shadow Home Sec by Labour, it was a mistake, there are better candidates, and what is required is a person less volatile, steady as the Rock of Gib and knowledgeable, the defence of the United Kingdom is too serious to have someone like her in charge.

Diane Abbott has too much baggage!

The car crash interviews are like gold dust to her political opponents, the Sky News with Dermot Murnaghan was funny, but once you get passed the laughing stage, you have to think, could you trust the safety of the UK in her hands?

My answer is……. Fuck no!

The wake of another toe-curling TV meltdown should lead on thing, Diane Abbott should step down as Shadow Home Sec with immediate effect;, her struggling to give answers about the content of the Harris report shows a lack of depth. Having tried to bluff her way through which was the wrong tactic and lacks dignity, she should have said that although she had read the report, she wasn’t able to recall detail.

Truth in politics is still the gold standard; it would have also moved the interview on to allow Dermot Murnaghan to ask her opinion on specific details, rather than the meltdown we saw. It now appears that Abbott has backed out of a radio interview today after being 'taken ill'. She was due to appear on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour today for a debate with Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

One can only hope her ‘illness’ included a phone call to Jeremy Corbyn to stand down, however I doubt she will, she is blinded by ego!

I found this picture online of Diane Abbott being ‘unwell’, which seems that her illness must have lifted at less at Oxford Circus Tube station at 8.40am but she also Evening Standard election hustings event tonight. 

Clearly, we have an enigma of ‘TV and Election hustings’ sickness, which is a new one on me.

If you have watched Diane Abbott over the years on shows like This Week, you would get a pretty decent picture of what she is and what she is not, and being a government minister is not what she should be. Being an ally of Jeremy Corbyn isn’t enough, and shouldn’t be enough to secure a ministerial post.

Diane Abbott doesn’t have a clue about the recommendations of a major report into beefing up security in the capital, and she should have, former Metropolitan Police Authority chairman Lord Toby Harris spent a lot of time and effort to prepare a report, not only should she have read it, she also should have met with him and used his expert advice to shape Labour policy.

Diane Abbott was unable to identify a single one of the 127 recommendations when asked about it by Dermot Murnaghan, although it would be unreasonable to expect her to blurt out all 127, you would expect more than one.

The former independent reviewer of terror legislation, Lord Carlile said Ms Abbott's interview was the 'one of the most shocking things I've ever heard in an election'. He added Diane Abbott was 'not fit to be involved in home affairs policy' and the UK should ensure 'people who purport to be in charge of national security know something about it.' 

Diane Abbott has to go, she is a liability and it would be better if she stepped down, or she could be the deciding factor in Labour failing to win government, national security, especially at this time is regarded seriously by the public, Abbott is entirely unfit to hold that post.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University