Diane Abbott has been dubbed “Putin’s useful idiot” after she downplayed the threat posed to the West by Russia.

The veteran Labour MP said it was “a Nato fiction” being used to justify a boost in defence spending, which she opposes.

Her comments come just a month after it emerged she had previously described the war in Ukraine as “a Nato campaign against Russia”.

Andy Burnham has insisted that the UK will hit Nato’s target of spending 3.5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) on defence by 2035.

In a post on X, Abbott said: “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.”

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.Fund rise in military spending from tax on middle earners, says Resolution Foundationhttps://t.co/ygSmhbaxvI

Her comments sparked an angry backlash from politicians and pro-Ukraine campaigners.

A spokesman for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Those views are reprehensible. Ukraine is an innocent party in this. Everyone should be foursquare behind Ukraine and against Russian aggression.”

Posting on X, Tory MP Ben Obese-Jecty said Abbott was “playing the role of Putin’s useful idiot”.

“To rail against increased defence spending by claiming the threat Russia pose is ‘a Nato fiction’ shows she is dangerously out of touch,” he said.

“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 naïve.”

The Ukraine Solidarity Campaign said: “There are legitimate debates to be had about defence spending.

“Denying the Russian regime is a threat to democracy all over the world is not legitimate, particularly when the speaker describes Russia’s war on Ukraine as ‘the Nato campaign against Russia’.”

There are legitimate debates to be had about defence spending. Denying the Russian regime is a threat to democracy all over the world is not legitimate, particularly when the speaker describes Russia's war on Ukraine as "the NATO campaign against Russia"https://t.co/k08tChG2Pt https://t.co/UiP55tMv2X

Abbott, the longest serving female MP in the Commons, lost the Labour whip last year after she argued in a letter to The Observer in 2023 that Jewish, Irish and Traveller communities experience prejudice rather than racism.

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