I don’t know about the accusations of racism or ‘right wing nut job’ that are being slung around, but Diane Abbott is in a high position in shadow government with aspirations to do it for real.
Of course she cannot be expected to have every exact and perfect figure in her head, that is not fair, nor realistic. However, there are two things that expose her as being a liability in this.
Firstly, the sheer wrongness of the figures she was spouting should have set some internal alarm bells ringing in her head. The figures were so stupidly and obviously wrong that a bit of sense should have stopped her making such a bollocks of the whole thing.
Secondly, a politician of her experience and standing should be cleverer than to pretend to know a load of figures when any reasonable person wouldn’t expect her to know them by heart. Either she should have got her ducks in a row first figures-wise or she should be skilled enough by now to bluff her way out with some nice-sounding waffle. Either would have done in this case.
That she neither ‘knew her shit’ or was skillful enough to walk around the question makes her look incompetent.
To then assert that her own credibility has not been damaged is just laughable. I’ll be the **** judge of whether I find her credible or not, thanks very much.