Watch: Diane Abbott’s hair-raising Andrew Marr interview

With Labour beginning to gain ground in the polls, the party will be keen to keep its momentum going in the final days of the campaign. So, whichever brain at Labour HQ decided it was a good idea to send Diane Abbott onto the Andrew Marr show has some explaining to do.

Explaining her credentials to take on one of the great offices of state come June 9, the shadow home secretary said she was confident she was up to the job as she had spent time in the Home Office as a graduate trainee.

When Marr moved onto Abbott’s questionable views on the IRA, she came up with an even more novel answer. Comparing her words of support for the IRA to her decision to have an afro, Abbott said her views — like her hair — have changed:

AM: Jeremy Corbyn got into some trouble in his Andrew Neil interview when he said he had not met the IRA and he was then photographed with lots of people from the IRA.