Labour could lose the black vote if Keir Starmer doesn't take stronger action against racism in the party, Diane Abbott has warned.
Last week the Forde report found the party has not done enough on anti-black racism and Islamophobia.
Martin Forde QC , who led the inquiry, noted "less progress" had been made in tackling “undoubted overt and underlying racism” than tackling sexism.
He added the party “was in effect operating a hierarchy of racism or of discrimination with other forms of racism and discrimination being ignored”.
The Mirror understands Mr Starmer has approached a number of black MPs in hope of scheduling a meeting with the black parliamentary party (PLP), off the back of the Forde report.
Ms Abbott, a former shadow home secretary told the Mirror: "I was subjected to racist abuse of the senior party officials. Nobody has apologised.
"If Starmer continues to treat race and race issues in this really contemptuous fashion what does he expect black voters to do at the next general election?"
The report found messages about Ms Abbott in private WhatsApp messages among staffers hostile to Jeremy Corbyn represented “overt and underlying racism and sexism
Former shadow defence secretary Clive Lewis added: "Why would we expect the leader of this party to support black staff and MPs when he won't even support working people?"
Kate Osamor, a former shadow frontbencher, fears many black and ethnic minority Labour MPs feel let down by Mr Starmer's response to the report.
"Sir Keir Starmer’s silence on this issue is deafening. If the Leadership of this party took a moment to listen to Black and Ethnic Minority members, they would quickly realise the problems described in this report are ongoing.
"Many Black and Ethnic Minority Labour MPs feel let down by the Leaderships response to this report. We need an apology."
Mr Forde's report said: “Racism in the party is not experienced by individuals solely through acts of aggression or microaggression towards them personally.
“It is experienced through seeing colleagues being passed over for promotion; being the only person from an ethnic minority background around a meeting table; being managed by a near-exclusively white senior team; and hearing the particular disdain reserved for [eg] ethnic minority MPs, councillors and CLP [constituency Labour party] members.”
It is understood that Anneliese Dodds, the party chair, had approached a number of MPs but was unable to get through to some.
In a letter to the parliamentary party, Ms Dodds and David Evans, General Secretary of the party said: "It does not make for comfortable reading for anyone who cherishes our Party and its values.
"The report details a period when the Labour Party failed to deal with incidences of racism (including but not limited to Antisemitism), misogyny and sexism, and other forms of discrimination.
"It is unacceptable that some members of the Parliamentary Labour Party and Labour Party staff were subjected to this appalling behaviour.
One senior member of the black PLP told the Mirror they were "p***ed off and frustrated" after reading the findings of the report.
Campaigners have noted the influential role black voters played in Labour's London gains at the local elections.
Labour took control of Wandsworth town hall for the first time in four decades in a borough where almost a third (29%) of all voters in Wandsworth, with almost half of those voters (44%) from an African, Caribbean or black mixed background.
In an article for the Voice, Dawn Butler said: "Racism isn’t ended by a change of leader, and neither is factionalism.
"It requires hard, pain-staking cultural challenges – an acknowledgement of the problem and an open mind committed to real and lasting cultural change.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “We’re proud of the changes that have been made under Keir Starmer and David Evans’ leadership but there is no room for complacency so we will always look at ways to improve our culture and practice to support all protected characteristics.
“In April 2022, we launched our new Independent Complaints Process which will ensure that complaints involving all protected characteristics will be decided impartially, fairly and rationally.
"This is a critical step on the Labour Party’s journey to build confidence in our commitment to tackle all forms of discrimination, as well as to tackle sexual harassment.
“This sits alongside other work within the Party to tackle discrimination and improve our culture and practice, including the implementation of a new Code of Conduct on Islamophobia in July 2021 and a new Code of Conduct on Afrophobia and Anti-Black Racism in November 2021.
"The Party has also established a Diversity and Inclusive Board with its union and staff networks, chaired by the General Secretary, which has a work plan in place and appointed an external expert to support the board.”
