Diane Abbott: Keir Starmer treated me like a ‘non-person’

All is not well in the Labour party. Diane Abbott has launched an attack on the Prime Minister over his behaviour towards her during the Frank Hester racism row. The Labour MP for Hackney North has told the Beeb that she felt Sir Keir Starmer treated her like a ‘non-person’ following the Tory donor fallout, that her suspension from Labour was a ‘move against me’ and also revealed she had been offered a deal via a ‘third party’ to stand down ahead of the election.

In March it emerged that a prominent Tory donor had told colleagues that looking at Abbott makes ‘you just want to hate all black women because she’s there’ and that ‘she should be shot’. Hester apologised for his ‘rude’ remarks, but denied charges of racism. Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Abbott has opened up about the row, telling presenters that the revelations made her feel like she may be in danger, before pointing to the murders of MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess: ‘One of the reasons it made me frightened is two MPs have been killed in recent years’.