STAND with Diane Abbott by restoring the Labour whip to her, union leaders told Sir Keir Starmer today.

The general secretaries of four Labour-affiliated unions wrote to the party leader telling him that readmitting the first black woman MP to the parliamentary party would demonstrate “our commitment to combating racism within our party and society at large.”

Ms Abbott has been under investigation for over a year, having been suspended following the publication of a newspaper letter criticised for playing down anti-Jewish racism.