Diane Abbott has launched an attack on the Labour Party in her latest social media intervention. The Labour veteran - who now sits as an independent MP - criticised Wes Streeting for his plan to reform the NHS.
She claimed the Shadow Health Secretary "doesn't know what he's talking about". This came after Streeting said NHS reform will be a key priority if Labour wins the next election.
"Every time I make a reform argument, there are howls of outrage from online activists,” he told The Sun on the eve of a major speech declaring a war against NHS waste.
"But one of the reasons I’m passionate about reform arguments and making the case is because I want staff who’ve told me the NHS needs to change, and patients who’ve told me the NHS needs to change, to know someone’s listened.
Diane Abbott hit out at Wes Streeting on social media
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"You can't just keep on pouring ever-increasing amounts of money into a leaky bucket, you've got to deal with the bucket itself."
He added: "It’s not right to keep on asking people on low to middle incomes to pay high taxes when they’re struggling. And it’s not right that they don’t get much for the money they are putting in."
But hitting back on social media, Abbott said: "The population is ageing and growing. It is getting sicker too as the effects of austerity bite.
Streeting said: "It’s not right to keep on asking people on low to middle incomes to pay high taxes when they’re struggling"
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"There are also rising costs in the NHS especially with medical equipment and many drugs. Of course the NHS needs more money. Wes Streeting doesn't know what he's talking about."
Streeting's interview with The Sun also saw him vow to crack down on NHS waste, adding that the Labour Party has been too "nostalgic" about the UK's health service.
The MP for Ilford North said: "I think there are times when the Labour Party is led too heavily into nostalgia.
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Diane Abbott now sits as an independent MP
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“It would be the easiest thing in the world to go into the next general election just saying ‘worst crisis in NHS history’, ‘you can’t trust the Tories on the NHS’, ‘you’ve got 24 hours to save the NHS’ and, by the way, here’s a nice sepia film of Nye Bevan."
He added: "I’m not messianic enough to believe that sitting behind one desk at the Department of Health is going to solve all the nation’s problems.
“It is about having the right plan and the right team, and mobilising people with the right support, to get the NHS back on its feet, fit for future life. That’s my mission.”