Diane Abbott has sparked fresh controversy after describing the threat posed by Russia to the UK as a "NATO fiction" invented to justify increased military spending, and said a planned rise in defence spending "should not go ahead". The Labour MP's comments came the same week Vladimir Putin issued his clearest hint yet that Russia could strike British military facilities over arms supplies to Ukraine, and after Germany confirmed a drone attack on Leipzig airport had originated from Russia, prompting accusations that she is out of touch with the current security situation.

Writing on social media, Ms Abbott claimed the "imminent threat" narrative was designed to secure NATO's "complete capitulation" to Donald Trump's demands for higher military spending. Shadow defence minister Ben Obese-Jecty accused her of acting as "Putin's useful idiot", while Dame Priti Patel said her views were "far removed from the real world". The remarks follow a pattern of scepticism from Abbott about Western support for Ukraine, including dismissing invasion warnings as "outlandish" in July, and come weeks after she was readmitted to Labour following a year-long suspension over comments about Jewish people.