The Car-Crash Interview Everyone's Talking About: Diane Abbott On Police Funding
At the end of what can only be described as a highly embarressing interview she reels off the facts that were needed at the start. But what was going on before that, why couldnt she just switch from the simple mistake of saying 300 Thousand to 300 Million. Obviously she had all these different years figures going round in her head and had a total brain failure. There were lots of paper shuffeling heard in the background before she actually managed to come out with the correct facts, either way highly embarressing is an understatement.
Diane Abbott: "What I'm saying about the costs is in year one, obviously, we're getting ready to recruit. But in year two, the cost will be £64.3million. In year three, the cost will be a £139.1million, year four, the cost will be £217million and year five, the cost will be £298million. And that can be amply covered by reversing the cuts to Capital Gains Tax."What is worse is she actually tried to defend it by saying she mis-spoke rather than just saying, yes I messed up big time and had a brain freeze.
The Interview
Nick Ferrari: So how much would 10,000 police officers cost?
Diane Abbott: Well, erm... if we recruit the 10,000 police men and women over a four-year period, we believe it'll be about £300,000.
Nick Ferrari: £300,000 for 10,000 police officers? What are you paying them?
Diane Abbott: Haha, no. I mean, sorry...
Nick Ferrari: How much will they cost?
Diane Abbott: They will cost... they will, it will cost, erm, about... about £80million.
Nick Ferrari: About £80million? How do you get to that figure?
Diane Abbott: We get to that figure because we anticipate recruiting 25,000 extra police officers a year at least, over a period of four years and we're looking at both what average police wages are generally, but also specifically police wages in London.
Nick Ferrari: And this will be funded by the reversing in some instances I think the cuts to Capital Gains Tax, but I'm right in saying that since Jeremy Corbyn became the leader of the party, that money has also been promised to reverse spending cuts in education, spending cuts in arts, spending cuts in sports. The Conservatives will say you've spent this money already Diane Abbott.
Diane Abbott: Well, the Conservatives would say that. We've not promised the money to any area. We've just pointed out that the cuts in Capital Gains Tax will cost the taxpayer over £2billion and there are better ways of spending that money. But as we roll out our manifesto process, we are specifically saying how we will fund specific proposals and this morning I'm saying to you that we will fund the 10,000 extra police officers by using some, not all, but just some of the over £2billion.
Nick Ferrari: The £80million is the figure we used.
Diane Abbott: Yeah.
Nick Ferrari: But I don't understand., if you divide 80million by 10,000, you get 8,000. Is that what you're going to pay these policemen and women?
Diane Abbott: No, we're talking about, erm, a process over four years.
Nick Ferrari: I don't understand, what is he or she getting? 80million divided by 10,000 equals 8,000. What are these police officers going to be paid?
Diane Abbott: We will be paying them the average...
Nick Ferrari: Has this been thought through?
Diane Abbott: Of course it's been thought through.
Nick Ferrari: Where are the figures?
Diane Abbott: The figures are that the additional costs in year one when we anticipate recruiting about 250,000 policemen will be £64.3million.
Nick Ferrari: 250,000 policemen?
Diane Abbott: And women.
Nick Ferrari: So you're getting more than 10,000? You're recruiting 250,000?
Diane Abbott: No, we are recruiting 2,000 and perhaps 250.
Nick Ferrari: So where did 250,000 come from?
Diane Abbott: I think you said that, not me.
Nick Ferrari: No, no, I can assure you you said that figure because I wrote it down.
Diane Abbott: What I'm saying about the costs is in year one, obviously, we're getting ready to recruit. But in year two, the cost will be £64.3million. In year three, the cost will be a £139.1million, year four, the cost will be £217million and year five, the cost will be £298million. And that can be amply covered by reversing the cuts to Capital Gains Tax.
Im not keen on Abbott never have been, hopefully she would go the same way Osbourne did on the Tory side if Labour actually got in. Labour had been creeping up in the polls (if you believe them) it will be interesting to see the effect after this. A good example of why Chairman May is not debating and limiting interviews.
NOTE:
At present i have not been able to find any evidence of Abbott mentioning the figures in other interviews as she claims.
Links
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/02/diane-abbotts-car-crash-tv-radio-interviews-labours-policing/
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/02/beneath-diane-abbott-police-funding-gaffes-labour-numbers-make-sense
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/labours-diane-abbott-stumped-on-police-officer-policy-in-car-crash-live-interview-a3528136.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/diane-abbot-lbc-interview-in-full-police-officer-pay-manifesto-radio-nick-ferrari-a7713556.html
http://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/diane-abbotts-agonising-interview-over-policy-cost/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/diane-abbotts-brain-fade-interview-10339093
Labour police policy hit by error-strewn Diane Abbott interview
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