Diane Abbott has described the Russian threat to the UK as a “Nato fiction”.
The Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington claimed the danger posed by Russia had been made up to justify the “complete capitulation to Trump’s demands for more military spending“.
Senior Nato officials have repeatedly warned about Vladimir Putin’s provocations, with the Kremlin accused of attempting to launch sabotage attacks across Europe.
This week, Germany accused Russia of being behind a foiled explosive drone attack in August at Leipzig/Halle airport. The incident, targeting a Ukrainian cargo plane was condemned as an escalation of state-sponsored hybrid warfare on European soil.
The perceived danger has prompted calls for the Government to increase defence spending.
On Wednesday, Ms Abbott wrote on X: “The imminent threat from Russia is a Nato fiction to justify their complete capitulation to Trump’s demands for more military spending. The increase should not go ahead.”
Ms Abbott, who was suspended from Labour once in 2023 and also in 2025 after anti-Semitism rows, was brought back into the fold by Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, in July.
Both Mr Burnham and his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, have warned about the risk Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, presents to Britain’s security.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Tory MP for Huntingdon and a retired Army officer, launched a scathing attack against Ms Abbott for her remarks.
“Diane Abbott here wilfully playing the role of Putin’s useful idiot,” he wrote on X. “To rail against increased defence spending by claiming the threat Russia poses is ‘a Nato fiction’ shows she is dangerously out of touch.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Tory MP for Huntington, says Ms Abbott is ‘out of touch’ on defence spending – House of Commons
“Over four years into the war in Ukraine, and with escalating sub-threshold activity, we are agreed that increasing defence spending is a matter of national security.
“It beggars belief that a senior Labour politician could be so naive.”
Philip Ingram, a former colonel in British military intelligence, also criticised Ms Abbott. “Diane Abbott lives in a fictional world and that drives her views on many global and domestic issues,” he said.
“How she ever became an MP makes me concerned about the number of people who believe the levels of disinformation she regurgitates.”
Ms Abbott’s comments are the latest in a string of controversial remarks by the veteran MP.
She was suspended last year after she had doubled down on a claim that Jewish people experienced racism differently to black people.
She was initially suspended in 2023 over a letter to the Observer newspaper, in which she said Jewish, Irish and Traveller people “undoubtedly experience prejudice” but “they are not all their lives subject to racism”.
She likened the prejudice those groups experienced to that faced by redheads.
She was readmitted to Labour before the general election but then had the whip removed again in July 2025 after she used a BBC interview to defend her remarks and say she did not regret the incident. She was brought back into the party days after Mr Burnham became Prime Minister.
Her latest remarks come days after Russia threatened to attack British factories supplying Ukraine with drones. A Russian foreign ministry spokesman warned that Britain was “playing with fire” by supporting Ukraine.
In a further escalation, Putin threatened to seize British cargo ships in retaliation for the actions taken by Britain and Nato against his shadow fleet of tankers illegally ferrying oil to fund his war against Kyiv.
Western intelligence officials warned that Putin was waging a sabotage campaign and there was the risk of him committing a “miscalculation” that would lead to conflict.
Mr Burnham responded, saying during a visit to Kyiv: “Despite Russia’s outrageous threats to my country, we will continue our support for Ukraine… Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve. We will not back down until there is a just and lasting peace.”
Andy Burnham met Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv in August on his first overseas trip as Prime Minister – Yevhen Kotenko/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Mr Burnham and his government are facing ongoing scrutiny over their commitment to defence spending.
John Healey, the Chancellor, will fail to commit to spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030 in his first Budget in October.
The Treasury has confirmed that the October Budget will ignore the 3 per cent target altogether. Instead, a pathway to 3 per cent will be set out at the 2027 spending review.
This comes despite Mr Healey having resigned as Sir Keir’s defence secretary over the issue in June, saying that hitting the target was vital to keep Britain safe from Russia.
Ms Abbott and the Labour Party have been approached for comment.