Diane Abbott: I stood up to Keir Starmer - and we haven’t spoken in four years

‘I have to say, about a dozen or so of my colleagues on the left were very grateful that I stood up to Starmer,’ Ms Abbott, mother of the House, told The Independent - (Reuters)

Diane Abbott has not spoken to Sir Keir Starmer properly in four years since the pair served in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, she has revealed.

The 71-year-old, who was elected as the first Black woman MP in 1987, says there is a clear divide in the Labour Party and accuses the prime minister of trying to “force the left out”.