Abbott says support for the IRA went out with her ‘afro’ hairstyle 34 years ago

Angus Howarth

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott has said she no longer opposed the security services as she insisted her time as a graduate civil servant would prepare her for becoming Home Secretary.

She also tried to distance herself from claims she supported the IRA in the 1980s, saying: “I don’t have the same hairstyle, I don’t have the same views.”

Ms Abbott was challenged on her views after it emerged that she had signed a parliamentary motion calling for an end to “conspiratorial groups” in 1989.