Diane Abbott claims ‘mothers’ are key in preventing Jihadists
Diane Abbott was ruthlessly mocked after she suggested the war against terrorism should focus on speaking to the mothers of British Muslims.
Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Mrs Abbott was quizzed on Labour's credibility in handling the threat of terrorism.
The shadow cabinet minister said the counter-terror effort should focus on reaching out to mothers of possible terrorists - much to the ridicule of social media.
Even the Bloomberg reporter lashed out, claiming: "It is not enough just speaking to their mothers, is it?"
Abbott: Labour will work with Bank of England to stabilise pound
The Bloomberg reporter pointed out that Jeremy Corbyn has voted more than 60 times against anti-terror legislation.
She asked: "If elected to office, how will you put an end to home-grown domestic terror? What are concrete steps?"
Mrs Abbott said Labour will move forward with a massive expansion of the Government's Prevent programme.
It is not enough speaking to their mothers!
The left-wing candidate for Hackney added: "Prevent should go further. We should speak to women.
"I mean, who is in a better place to know if a person is switching from playing football to becoming a potential jihadist than their own mother?
"We should work with the Muslim community, instead of against them."
When asked how Labour could fund a Prevent expansion, the shadow home secretary said funding would be "redeployed from somewhere else".
She continued: "Military solution cannot be the only tool. The war in Iraq did not make the international environment safer and our intervention in Libya has caused a failed state.
"We do want to be involved in the region. We have got to have real negotiations between the sponsors of what is happening through the UN."
Users on Twitter remarked that Mrs Abbott response was weak and ineffective.
One user joked: "Forget Winston Churchill, Diane Abbott is on Bloomberg saying that the way to secure Britain is to speak to the mothers."
Another added: "I will feel so much safer now that Abbott wants us to speak to more mums."