The Question Time host asked the Shadow Secretary for International Development asked about Ms Abbott’s continued suspension.

She said: “In terms of the question about Diane Abbott. Diane Abbott, you know, [is a] trailblazer for the Labour Party – longest-serving black woman MP.”

Ms Bruce asked why it’s taken a year for Ms Abbott’s investigation to take place, still without an outcome: “How can that still be going on and she’s not admitted back into the Labour Party, when Natalie Elphicke’s admitted in and then she apologises?”

The BBC veteran finished: “So does that not appear to be a double standard?”

Responding, Ms Nandy said: “You’ve got to remember why we’ve got an independent disciplinary process. This is not the same as joining a party. This is about a disciplinary process.

“Under our previous leader, he and his cheerleaders brought the Labour Party to the most shameful time in our history, where the Equality and Human Rights Commission opened an investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party and found that we had become an antisemitic party.

“I have nothing to do with the investigation into Diane but I very much hope it’s been resolved quickly.”