Sir Keir Starmer said that Jeremy Corbyn's influence over the party is "over", after the former Labour leader announced that he would stand against the party he led from 2015 to 2020.
On a campaign visit in Leyland, Lancashire, Sir Keir said: "I think Jeremy Corbyn’s days of commenting on what the Labour Party is doing are over.
"What I’ve done is put a cohort of excellent candidates across the whole country including in Islington North, because the choice at the election, wherever you are in the country, is between more of the chaos and decline and division we’ve seen over the last 14 years, which has got us absolutely nowhere, or turning a page and a fresh start and rebuilding with Labour.
"My job is to ensure we’ve got first-class candidates across the country, Islington North and elsewhere.
"We’re putting those in place, we have almost completed the exercise."
Diane Abbott also fired back against Starmer just hours after the Labour leader appeared to sidestep a question about the ongoing investigation into her suspension.
Abbott, who was suspended last year following a letter she wrote about racism to The Observer, has been the subject of a lengthy investigation by Labour's National Executive Committee.
Starmer said: "It’s not a question of what I want... the days when the leader of the Labour Party rolls up his or her sleeves and gets involved in disciplinary cases are well and truly over.
“That’s what Jeremy Corbyn did and it ended very badly.”
"It has EVERYTHING to do with him," Abbott wrote on social media.
With that in mind, do you trust Labour with your vote? Have your say.
