Abbott hits back at ITV News over claim she “struggled” through policing interview

This is the video Diane Abbott published as her row with ITV News escalated after the broadcaster reported she had “struggled again” through an interview on Labour’s policing pledge.

Last night the shadow home secretary posted her response on Twitter in which she accused ITV of “carefully editing” the clip to create the impression she had stumbled. In the section screened she had appeared to seek guidance from someone off-screen.

A spokesperson for ITV defended the interview and said: “We interviewed the shadow home secretary, questioning her on crime figures and policing numbers, which was the issue of the day. The unedited interview ran on air and online”.

In the run-up to the election Abbott stumbled in an LBC interview on Labour’s sums on police numbers but later explained she is suffering from diabetes which had affected her performance on the radio show because she had not eaten enough food.

Sick of “gotcha” journalism? I certainly am. Maybe journalists should try focusing on the real issues that affect peoples lives @itvnews pic.twitter.com/dCZ2qZ2zoT

— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) July 20, 2017

.@HackneyAbbott struggles again when questioned about police funding, having previously mixed up her numbers on @UKLabour‘s policy pic.twitter.com/Fy499kFprY

— ITV News (@itvnews) July 20, 2017