Diane Abbott Leads Bitter Twitter Feud With Ex-Miliband Aide Polly Billington

Diane Abbott Leads Bitter Twitter Feud With Ex-Miliband Aide
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 28: Diane Abbott MP addresses delegates on the third day of the Labour party conference at Manchester Central on September 28, 2010 in Manchester, England. The new Labour party leader Ed Miliband will today give his keynote speech to delegates where he is expected to offer a 'different ways' of doing politics. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 28: Diane Abbott MP addresses delegates on the third day of the Labour party conference at Manchester Central on September 28, 2010 in Manchester, England. The new Labour party leader Ed Miliband will today give his keynote speech to delegates where he is expected to offer a 'different ways' of doing politics. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Christopher Furlong via Getty Images

London Mayoral hopeful Diane Abbott has launched a Twitter attack against one of Ed Miliband’s key aides for co-authoring a critical report.

The Hackney MP hit out at Polly Billington, an ex-advisor to Miliband and one of eight Labour candidates who were not election at the recent general election that have penned a damning document about the Party’s defeat.

In the analysis, entitled 'Never again: Lessons from Labour's key seats', Billington criticised her former leader, saying he "got it badly wrong and lost trust in denying people a say on our membership of the EU", did not tackle the cultural issues of immigration policy, and alienated the party from its working class base.

But her comments were picked up by Abbott, who attacked Billington for having worked as a "top advisor" to Miliband only to author a critical report on his last few months of leadership.

She wrote: "Polly top Ed Miliband leadership campaigner then top Ed advisor. Now signs report saying Ed leadership a disaster. Odd."

But in a fiery showdown, Billington hit back, quipping: "I stop a loss turning into a failure by learning from my mistakes. What do you do?"

Her comment earned support from Twitter users, many re-tweeting or favouriting the post, and one even commenting: "Polly's experiences as a candidate should be listened to alongside everyone else."

Abbott's outburst came just one day after she launched another attack, this time on The Guardian newspaper, accusing the traditionally left-leaning paper of harbouring an anti Jeremy Corbyn bias.

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