Diane to publish her medical records?

Diane looked a bit unstable on This Week. Is she ill?

May be we'll find out soon.

At the end of an unhappy exchange with Esther Rantzen, she said it would be a good idea for MPs to publish their medical records - and their tax returns - apparently something US politicians do. So will Diane be publishing hers before the election?

Rod Liddle had another pop at her yesterday. This time over a video of school kids singing - literally - her praises. The scene, according to Liddle, would not have been out of place in North Korea.

This might be unfair but Diane is no less crude. Her treatment of Rantzen was polite compared to an interview of Nick Robinson, the BBCs political editor, she did for the Guardian. She thought his appearance was the most important topic for discussion.

Abbott keeps show...

Not exactly surprising, but it looks like the story below was not exactly accurate...

"This Week, hosted by Andrew Neil, will be produced by Juniper TV from September 2010.

The contract will run for three years and Andrew Neil will continue to present the show with Diane Abbott and Michael Portillo on BBC One on Thursdays. For Juniper, the executive editor will be Samir Shah, the editor will be Vicky Flind."

Abbott to lose seat and TV show say producers

The Mirror reports that documents "left in a London restaurant" show that TV producers hoping to run politics show "This Week" think Diane Abbott should be axed because she might lose her seat.

Has this got more to do with the fact that she's a regular thorn in the side of Blairites? She's enjoying the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq War (The Guardian: It was all about Blair) and she recently clashed with Alastair Campbell on "This Week" (footage still there!) So who would benefit most by shutting her up?

The Mirror story says the documents came from Flame TV: (which, according to its website has "produced hundreds of hours of original programming for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, FIVE, UKTV, Living and Discovery.")

The Mirror said Flame "want sofa pundits Michael Portillo and Diane Abbott axed and suggest Lord Mandelson, Ken Livingstone or Alastair Campbell for the Labour side. From the Tories could come Edwina Currie, Boris Johnson or Sir Nicholas Soames. The papers say new blood is needed as ex-Tory cabinet minister Portillo could return to politics while Labour MP Abbott could lose her seat."