- Starmer was seen speaking to Abbott after PMQs
- The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP, who is currently suspended from the Labour Party, has corroborated Owen Jones’s transcript
- Read it in full here
Diane Abbott has corroborated a transcript of her conversation with Sir Keir Starmer posted on social media by political commentator Owen Jones.
The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, who is currently suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation into a letter she wrote for the Observer newspaper, has been in the limelight after comments made by a Tory donor came to light.
Frank Hester is alleged to have said Ms Abbott, Britain’s longest-serving black MP, made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.
He has admitted making “rude” comments about Ms Abbott but claimed they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.
Labour leader Starmer criticised Rishi Sunak for not handing back the money he has donated during a fiery PMQs, saying:
“The man bankrolling the Prime Minister also said that the Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington should be shot.
“How low would he have to sink, what racist, woman-hating threat of violence would he have to make before the Prime Minister plucked up the courage to hand back the £10 million that he’s taken from him?”
He was seen approaching Abbott following PMQs, although the conversation probably didn’t go down as he had hoped:
Heres how it went:
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do”
“You could restore the whip”
“I understand just let me know if there’s anything..”
“Restore the whip”
“I understand”
Related: Calls for the Speaker to resign after he fails to take question from Diane Abbott