'He Has No Feel For Politics': Diane Abbott Re-Ignites Her Feud With Keir Starmer

Diane Abbott has re-ignited her feud with Keir Starmer as she attacked him for not compensating the Waspi women.

The veteran left-winger – who beat an attempt by the Labour hierarchy to dump her as an MP at the last election – said he “has no feel for politics” and is out of touch with ordinary voters.

Her comments came after the government announced that it would not be giving any compensation to women born in the 1950s who were affected by changes to the state retirement age.

Speaking on BBC 2′s Newsnight programme on Wednesday, Abbott said Starmer’s does not understand what they have been through.

She said: “One of the things about Keir is that he’s only been in the party for a relatively short period of time.

“He was [Director of Public Prosecutions] until about 2014 and he couldn’t have been a member of the party. Then he got parachuted into Holborn St Pancras, he didn’t have to contest for it, and because it was a safe seat he didn’t have to fight for that.

“And he has no feel for politics. Now he might say ‘I’ve got a great feel for politics because I smashed people like you’, but he has no feel for politics, he doesn’t understand how they feel.

“Remember, he’s on his big fat DPP pension, what does he know about ageing women who really will depend on the state pension? He doesn’t know.”

Abbott, who was first elected MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in 1987, was stripped of the Labour whip in April last year over allegations of anti-Semitism.

She eventually had it restored at the end of May, but senior Labour sources said she would not be allowed to stand as an election candidate for the party.

However, after a furious backlash, Labour bosses finally relented and she was re-elected in July with a majority of 15,080.