Diane Abbott criticised Sir Keir Starmer during an appearance on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg (Image: BBC)

       Labour’s Diane Abbott has lashed out at party leader Sir Keir Starmer live on television as she berated his “poor judgement” in accepting freebies and cutting winter fuel payments.

       The Hackney North MP has a chequered past with the Prime Minister after she had the Labour whip withdrawn over an “offensive” suggestion that “Jews don’t suffer racism”.

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       The whip was restored before the General Election, but only after months of uncertainty about her future.

       Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, stand-in host Victoria Derbyshire asked Ms Abbott how she thought Labour and the PM were doing so far.

       "There's been issues where I think Keir Starmer has shown poor judgement"

       Labour MP Diane Abbott says cutting winter fuel allowance for pensioners who "don't forgive and forget... and who actually do vote" was "poor political judgement"#BBCLauraK https://t.co/LKGdU1XyCa pic.twitter.com/tkQ514gRlr

       — BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) December 1, 2024

       After criticising the party for “wheeling out recycled Blairite Pat McFadden” earlier in the programme to defend the Government, she said: “There’s been issues where I think Keir Starmer has shown poor judgement.

       “He didn’t seem to understand that [as] a man on ￡150,000 a year as leader of the opposition, it would look bad to be getting a millionaire to pay for his glasses and his suits.”

       Sir Keir – who actually earned ￡144,649 before the election – was roundly criticised for accepting gifts from Lord Waheed Alli, including thousands of pounds worth of work clothing and multiple pairs of glasses.

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       She went on to say: “Maybe if he’d done more doorknocking for the Labour Party, he didn’t understand that of all the people to take money off, not pensioners.

       “Pensioners don’t forgive and forget and they’re one of the blocks of voters who actually do vote – and he didn’t seem to get it that that would be a problem.

       “People are still coming up to my colleagues in other parts of the country in the street to complain about what he did about winter fuel.

       “Taking winter fuel allowance away from pensioners in that rather clunky way, it showed poor political judgement.”

       Ms Abbott has already proved to be a headache for the Prime Minister as he tries to convince voters Labour has moved on from its hard-Left past.

       She was a close ally and friend of Jeremy Corbyn, serving as his shadow home secretary before he lost the 2019 election and was later booted out of the party over antisemitism claims.

       She has previously warned in interviews that she would be prepared to oppose Sir Keir and the Government on some issues.

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       Labour’s decision to remove the universal ￡300 winter fuel allowance from most pensioners has sparked controversy, particularly as energy bills are set to rise.

       Earlier this month Dennis Reed, director of the Silver Voices campaign group, said: “News that energy prices will drift up again in January is further proof of the folly of the Government in scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

       “Older people just above the benefit eligibility limit are already at their wits’ end in balancing heating and food costs.”