It’s not often I find myself agreeing with Jeremy Corbyn but he was right this week in his remarks about Diane Abbott, whom he called a trailblazer and “an inspiration”.

Agreed. Whatever you think of her politics, as a black woman in public life Abbott’s powers of endurance are truly inspiring.

It takes a great deal of courage to put one foot in front of the other, day after day, year after year, through jeering crowds, the missiles flying, your principal crime being that you have had the audacity to enter politics in the first place. That the jeering crowds are largely virtual makes no difference: the hateful sentiment is no less real. Keir Starmer thinks Abbott probably receives more sustained abuse than any other politician, which is almost certainly true.

In comments from 2019, reported this week, Tory party megadonor Frank Hester suggested that looking at Diane Abbott made you “want to hate all black women” and that Abbott “should be shot”. Hester claims, ludicrously, that the remarks had nothing to do with Abbott’s race or gender.

Downing Street’s response has been lamentable, with government figures using words like “inappropriate” and “intemperate” to describe Hester’s comments, before Rishi Sunak finally conceded late on Tuesday they were racist – though even yesterday morning, junior minister Kevin Hollinrake was trying to hold the risible line that “there are different ways” you could interpret the remarks.

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