Starmer treated me like a “non-person”

Hester apologized for his “rude” remarks, but denied that they had anything to do with her gender or skin color.

At the time, Starmer was pressured to return the party's vote of confidence to Abbott, and the then independent MP accused the party leadership of “digging in” on the issue.

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Commenting on the dispute, which ultimately culminated in Abbott being allowed to stand as a Labour candidate in the general election in July, the experienced MP said she expected more support from the Prime Minister and the Labour Party.

Addressing Hester's comments in particular, Abbott said, “One of the reasons it scared me is that two MPs have been killed in the last few years.”

She told the BBC News evening Comments like Hester's “make a certain type of nutcase angry and therefore even more vulnerable.”

Despite feeling unsafe, Abbott said the Labour leader “never made contact with me personally and treated me as a non-person”.

Abbott said: “If someone had threatened to have you shot, you would have felt that your party would have offered you more support, given you advice on safety and security, even expressed some sympathy. But none of that happened.”

She also told News evening on her suspension from the Parliamentary Labour Party that the current Prime Minister wanted to complete his “sell-out” of the left.

Abbott added: “I think they wanted to drag out the inquiry further and further. So when the general election comes around, they can just remove me as a Labour candidate because I'm no longer in the Labour group in Parliament and they could plant me somewhere else.”

When asked why she thought Starmer wanted her out of the party, Abbott said: “Keir Starmer always says, 'This is the new Labour Party… and how can you make it look newer than by getting rid of Diane Abbott?'”

A Labour spokesman said: “Keir Starmer has enormous respect for Diane Abbott and she continues to be an inspiration to many. There is no doubt that she has been the most abused of any MP, simply because of her gender and the colour of her skin, and that is completely reprehensible and wrong.”

“The party, including Keir Starmer, loudly condemned Frank Hester’s abhorrent comments and offered Diane its support at the time.

“It is simply false to suggest that leadership had plans to oust her from office. We continue to value Diane's significant contributions to public life.”

Abbott's suspension as a Labour MP came after the MP wrote a letter pointing out that Jews do not face the same racism as other minorities. Abbott apologised for the comments and said the The Observer it was a “first draft” that was sent by mistake.

The letter said the Jewish, Irish and Traveller communities had been subjected to “prejudice”, but added: “This is akin to racism and the two words are often used interchangeably.”

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