Diane Abbott has deleted a tweet accusing Sir Keir Starmer of lying about how much respect he has for her.
The veteran Labour MP, who has been at the centre of a storm over whether she would be allowed to stand for the party at the general election, accused Sir Keir of being dishonest in claiming that he has “more respect for Diane than she probably realises”.
In an interview with The Observer, the Labour leader said: “Although I disagree with some of what she says, in terms of the battles she’s been through and the terrible insults she has had to rise above, I’ve actually got more respect for Diane than she probably realises…
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“She was the first Black woman MP and has always had to fight for everything. She’s not like any other candidate.”
Sharing the article in a now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Abbott said: “More lies from Starmer.”
It risks reigniting a row between Ms Abbott and the party which flared up last week over whether she would be blocked from standing in the election.
On Sunday Ms Abbott said she was the “adopted Labour candidate” for her London constituency, adding: “I intend to run and to win as Labour’s candidate.”
It came after Sir Keir performed a u-turn on whether Ms Abbott would be able to run for Labour in her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat, saying she is free to stand for the party.
Sir Keir’s deputy Angela Rayner had said Ms Abbott should be allowed to stand, in a break with the party leader.
Ms Rayner had said “as the deputy leader of the Labour Party… I don’t see any reason why Diane Abbott can’t stand as a Labour MP going forward”.
She heaped praise on Ms Abbott, describing her as an inspiration and a trailblazer. And Ms Rayner appeared to take aim at Sir Keir and his inner circle, stressing that she is “not happy” about negative briefings to newspapers about Ms Abbott from senior Labour sources.
“I don’t think that is how we should conduct ourselves,” she told ITV.
Sir Keir had previously refused to say whether Ms Abbot would be defending her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat on 4 July, as he faced claims of a “purge” of left-wing candidates.
Ms Abbott was given the Labour whip back last week, clearing the way for her to stand for the party. She had been suspended after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice but not racism, and had sat as an independent MP.
It is not known whether the tweet was posted by Ms Abbott herself or a member of staff with access to her account.
