Speaking on BBC News this morning, Diane Abbott repeatedly refused to credit Keir Starmer for Labour’s victory in Batley & Spen, instead only going so far as to praise “the Labour movement“:

“It’s a great result for the people who led the campaign on the ground…above all it’s a great result for Kim Leadbeater, and you know, we’re all very happy because we’re socialists…it’s a victory for the Labour movement, and the Labour movement is what it’s all about.”

Pressed on whether she now supported Sir Keir’s leadership, Diane pivoted to offering her sage policy advice:

“It would be a mistake, in my view, to abandon the policies in 2017 and 2019 that were so popular.”

If they were so popular, Guido wonders why she isn’t currently running the Home Office…

She then added:

“I will not do to Keir what some of the people supporting him did to Jeremy Corbyn”.

Guido’s old enough to remember when Diane was openly calling for Starmer to be replaced by Andy Burnham roughly six weeks ago…