SADIQ KHAN and David Lammy are trying to pass as leftwingers in spite of their record as “docile Labour ministers,” Diane Abbott has said in her strongest challenge of her opponents’ records to date.

Speaking at an 800-strong rally on Tuesday night, the London mayoral hopeful set out her vision for a fairer, more affordable capital — warning that platitudes about “affordable” homes would not be sufficient to solve the housing crisis.

The meeting was also addressed by leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn, who urged his supporters to carry the momentum of the campaign beyond the result.

Leadership rival Yvette Cooper warned yesterday that a Corbyn victory would see Labour “go back to the 1980s,” in the latest of a number of personal attacks on his campaign.

The leftwinger has refused to engage with these attacks, insisting the contest must be about policies.

But Ms Abbott made no bones of criticising her opponents in the mayoral race — especially former cabinet minister Tessa Jowell.

Praising her personal attributes, the Hackney MP said Ms Jowell was “the [pro-business lobby group] Progress candidate for mayor,” comparing her to Ms Kendall.

“And we know what we do with Progress candidates,” she added cryptically.

Ms Abbott said she was “the only candidate” to highlight the need for new housing stock built and owned by councils — rather than simply new houses under the “affordable” banner, currently defined at 80 per cent of the market rent.

“Building more homes alone is not the answer,” she warned. “We need rent controls — and I mean rent controls, not rent stabilisation.

“Tessa talks about all the flats she built on the Olympic park. Who can afford to live in those flats on the Olympic park?”

She criticised other rivals for claiming to be “independent and left-wing,” pointing to Mr Khan’s article in the Daily Express apologising for Labour’s record on immigration, along with Mr Lammy’s involvement in tuition fees as an education minister.

“They were men I knew all along as docile Labour ministers,” she said.

After presenting a passionate case for a compassionate and equitable society, Mr Corbyn said the summer of 2015 had become “something pretty special in British politics.”

“Whatever happens on September 12, that’s not the end, it’s just the start.”