Twitter Responds To Diane Abbott's Tube Mojito

Skip navigation!

You know it's a bank holiday weekend when a photograph of an MP drinking a Mojito-in-a-tin on the London Overground makes front page news.

Transport for London (TfL) banned passengers from consuming alcohol (and from carrying open cans of alcohol) on its trains and buses in 2008. "Anyone caught consuming alcohol may be prosecuted," TfL's Conditions of Carriage state.

Diane Abbott, Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, knows this, and swiftly apologised after she was photographed sipping from an M&S Mojito can as she travelled home to her north-east London constituency earlier this week.

A photo of me drinking from a can of M&S mojito on the Overground has been circulated. I'm sincerely sorry for drinking on TFL.
— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) April 19, 2019

Now, no one could deny that Abbott is at fault – which is why she's apologised clearly and succinctly. But at the same time, it's hard not to think there are far bigger things to worry about right now, like Brexit, climate change and hygiene poverty.

AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT

So on Twitter, Abbott's "tube Mojito" has actually provoked some pretty appreciative tweets. The hashtag #CansForDiane has even been trending as people crack open gin-in-a-tins and mojito cans in her honour.

I didn’t think it was possible for my admiration of Diane Abbott to grow any greater until I found out that she drank a tinny on the train.
— Sister Outrider (@ClaireShrugged) April 19, 2019

I love that the most common reaction to Diane Abbott drinking on a train is people finally feeling represented by a politician ?
— Lynsey C Tyson (@TysonLynsey) April 20, 2019

also #CansForDiane is something I'd definitely get behind! We stan. pic.twitter.com/JeW0aKIC37
— Margie?Belle (@mnsbelle) April 20, 2019

Try the pornstar martini next time, it’s lovely, really compliments the district line x
— Rylan Clark-Neal (@Rylan) April 20, 2019

Oh mate. We’ve all done it.
— Philippa_Perry (@Philippa_Perry) April 19, 2019

You’re a legend and frankly if I had your daily stress I’d be tanning a bottle of wine on the tube daily. X
— glock ness monster (@thewrathofamy) April 19, 2019

#CansforDiane it’s summertime baby!!!! pic.twitter.com/SHcKsy9IgE
— Zoë (@playboyredhead) April 20, 2019

And let's not forget that Abbott, who in 1987 became the UK's first ever black female MP, has long been a target for sickening racist and sexist abuse.

Last November, she revealed that she receives threats of “rape and violence on a daily basis” simply for doing her incredibly stressful job.

So if she fancies a few swigs of mojito on the way home, well, who are any of us to judge?