Diane abbott

Although Diane Abbott’s Christmas card efforts have been well-documented this year — with the Labour MP even finding time to write them during hostile meetings of the PLP, Nigel Evans is surely a contender for the ‘most striking Christmas card’ award. Evans has today sent out his own batch of cards which feature the man himself looking pensively into the distance. Happily they also tick the festive-box thanks to a charming Christmas tree mug he clutches in the shot: Good to see he has so much time on his hands.

Is Labour working through its policy differences on bombing Syria or is the shadow cabinet genuinely split? The New Politics dictates that public debate and consultations should be encouraged, so the Corbynites don’t see a problem with the current situation. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, tweeted this morning to ask everyone to ‘calm down’ because Labour is going through the process of deciding its position on Syria: On Syria, can everyone calm down.We're all simply working through the issues & coming to final decision.Don't mistake democracy for division — John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) November 27, 2015 Diane Abbott, the shadow international development secretary and another key Corbyn ally, has told

Today John McDonnell has continued to face flak after his attempt at a Chairman Mao joke in the Commons spectacularly backfired. On the Today Show, he was confronted by Diane Wei Liang, a Chinese author who was sent to a labour camp as a child, where she was forced to quote from Mao’s Little Red Book. Wei Liang made the point that McDonnell’s joke was unlikely to prove funny ‘for the millions of people who died during Mao’s regime, nor for those who lived through those times’. Should McDonnell need a comrade to help fight his corner, Mr S suspects he could do worse than to give Diane Abbott a call. Abbott

Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Labour leader, his close friend – and rumoured former lover — Diane Abbott has proved to be one of his most loyal allies. When Abbott — who has earned the nickname Madame Mao — isn’t spending PLP meetings writing her Christmas cards, the Shadow International Development Secretary can be found defending Corbyn from accusations of sexism, as well as appearing on television to praise the new regime. Still, with rumours circulating that Abbott is being given the cold shoulder by some members of Team Corbyn after a rather disastrous turn on Today, could it be that she is planning to change the way she deals with the media?

Last night’s PLP meeting proved to be a lively affair as Jeremy Corbyn was turned on by members of the Labour party over his ‘shoot to kill’ comments. As Mr S’s colleague Sebastian Payne reports, Corbyn was then ‘shouted down’ by MPs for his stance on military action and Syria. So where was the Labour leader’s primary cheerleader Diane Abbott while all this was going on? Well Abbott, who has won herself the nickname Madame Mao since her close friend – and rumoured former lover – was elected, was rather distracted at the event. In fact, far from taking on the role of Corbyn’s attack dog, one insider tells the Mirror that the shadow international development secretary spent

24 hours after Scottish Labour voted to oppose renewing Trident, the party’s policy is firmly where it was before this weekend’s conference. On the World at One, the shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle thanked the Scottish Labour conference for their thoughts and said their vote won’t be changing Labour’s policy: ‘I welcome the input of Scottish Labour and its conference into our internal debate, they’re one of many important voices that there are across the Labour movement about this issue. ‘But let’s very clear about what this does and does not mean. This does not change our policy. Defence isn’t a devolved matter, so Labour party policy has to be set at a

After Diane Abbott was appointed to Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet in the role of shadow secretary for International Development, some naysayers suggested her promotion could be linked to a brief fling she enjoyed with the Labour leader over 40 years ago. While many Labour MPs failed to come to Abbott’s defence, Ruth Davidson — the leader of the Scottish Conservatives — did at least intervene. She said that rather than any lingering feelings, it would be a ‘lifetime of friendship and shared activism’ that led to Abbott being given a front bench role. Alas, the power of the sisterhood appears to have diminished somewhat since then. In an appearance over the weekend on Have I Got News For You, Davidson

John McDonnell’s U-turn on backing the government’s fiscal charter is just the sort of inconsistent positioning some in Labour fear will destroy the party’s reputation under Jeremy Corbyn. No one from the shadow treasury team was willing to speak on the Today programme about the U-turn so it was left to seasoned media performer Diane Abbott, now the shadow international development secretary, to defend the party’s position. In a rather bizarre interview, Abbott claimed that Labour was not in a shambles: ‘No, no, no, I think we’re in the right position to oppose Osborne’s mismanagement of the economy’. Before declining to explain why McDonnell has changed his mind on backing the charter: ‘He will be explaining that to the House of Commons tomorrow so

The new Labour front bench made its first appearance at communities and local government questions this afternoon. Jon Trickett was announced as the new shadow communities and local government secretary just before 1pm and by 2:30pm he was at the dispatch box representing his party. Given the limited about of time Trickett and his team had to prepare, they managed to do a good job quizzing the government about affordable housing, brownfield sites and local government cuts. But everyone’s mind appeared to be focused on what’s going on in the Labour party. The Communities and Local Government Secretary Greg Clark welcomed his opposite number: ‘The shadow secretary of state was once PPS to

Who could Jeremy Corbyn invite into his shadow cabinet if elected Labour leader? Some frontbenchers are suggesting today that he could find two thirds of his shadow ministerial positions unfilled as MPs refuse to serve under his leadership. But who might say yes to an offer from the veteran socialist. These are the runners and riders who might just be prepared to join Corbyn’s inner circle: Golden Oldies Dennis Skinner MP for Bolsover One of Corbyn’s earliest backers, the Beast of Bolsover is also a long-serving member of Labour’s awkward squad. Perhaps he could help out by adding jokes to Corbyn’s dry speeches: his annual Queen’s Speech gags will come

Last week Diane Abbott was caught in a sticky situation after her campaign sent out a text to supporters that was allegedly from Jeremy Corbyn. It claimed that the Labour leadership favourite is backing her to be the Labour candidate to run for Mayor. Although Corbyn and Abbott are close, Corbyn’s team were quick to distance themselves, claiming the ‘text wasn’t authorised’. It was then reported that Corbyn had decided not to formally support a candidate in the mayoral race. So Mr S can’t help but wonder if Abbott’s campaign leaflets have been ‘authorised’? Last night at the Evening Standard‘s Labour mayoral hustings, Abbott had her team hand out campaign literature which carried a

The Labour leadership contest is compulsive watching for conservatives with a taste in schadenfreude. Jeremy Corbyn’s inclusion reminds everyone how the party may have succeeded in expelling the electable Blairites, but not the unelectable lefties. Corbyn pulled out of being interviewed by Andrew Neil for BBC Sunday Politics today, citing a last-minute emergency. But we were treated to Diane Abbott instead. It was a case study in Labour’s denial of reality. “We should be making sure that the people with the broadest shoulders bear the greatest burden,” she said. That’s precisely what George Osborne did when he cut the top rate of tax (below). The best-paid 1pc, 0.1pc and 0.01pc are all shouldering a greater

According to Jenni Russell, my colleague at the Times, David Cameron has lost 13lb since Christmas, mainly by giving up on peanuts and biscuits. Now that’s a lot of peanuts and biscuits. It’s a bit yo-yo, Cameron’s weight, isn’t it? He gets bigger, he gets smaller again, like a giant, very pink, human-shaped balloon that some giant unseen hand is alternately squeezing and relaxing around the legs. He wears it well, though. When Nigel Lawson lost all that weight he looked like a man with a puncture. George Osborne only shrinks these days, and will soon be as slim as his own lapels. So I suppose Cameron might be spurred on