Diane Abbott has reportedly spent a Labour party meeting, where MPs angrily argued about foreign policy, writing a stack of Christmas cards.
During the bi-monthly parliamentary Labour party meeting on Monday night, leader Jeremy Corbyn was strongly criticised by his MPs for saying he wouldn't be "happy" with a shoot-to-kill policy during terrorist attacks in the UK. According to the Daily Mirror, one shadow minister branded Corbyn "a fucking disgrace".
But perhaps the most bizarre report from the meeting is the claim that Abbott, the shadow international development minister, spent her time writing Christmas cards.
Apparently Diane Abbott was doing a stack of Christmas cards during PLP meeting on Syria/Paris. Surely that can't be true @HackneyAbbott?
The Financial Times' Jim Pickard said Abbott stayed on-brand and bought official House of Commons cards.
Well @haltosaur @HackneyAbbott apparently it was House of Commons Big Ben Xmas cards. Seems too weird for MPs to make up...
The cards were possibly these ones available from the parliament shop, which, to be fair to Abbott, are very nice.
Some people are slightly taken aback that Abbott chose that moment to write out the cards.
One of the most intense political weeks of the year in world politics and Diane Abbott was sat writing Christmas cards during PLP? WTAF?
Although some are impressed by her forward planning.
On the upside, Diane Abbott doing her Christmas cards at the PLP in mid-November shows an admirable capacity for forward planning
Conservative MP Nadine Dorries said it was actually quite impressive productivity.
Writing Christmas cards is productive for Diane Abbott. I've seen her sleep through entire meetings. https://t.co/5UvFiRZSeI
BuzzFeed News asked Abbott to confirm that she wrote her Christmas cards during the meeting, but she said she was busy. It is unclear whether she was continuing her Christmas preparations.