LABOUR MP Diane Abbott issued a stark pre-general election warning to politicians yesterday, saying that chasing votes with racist rhetoric leads to “violence on the streets.”

Ms Abbott called for fellow MPs to stand up to Nigel Farage’s “nakedly anti-immigrant” Ukip in a major speech at the London School of Oriental and African Studies.

And she challenged them to drag Britain’s immigration debate “out of the gutter” ahead of the general election campaign.