Diane Abbott is to campaign in the Holyrood elections just weeks after she apparently wrote off Labour's chances.

The party's spokesman on international development was present yesterday as Scottish Labour leader Kez Dudgale outlined the party’s electoral strategy to the shadow cabinet.

Last month the London MP said that it was "too late now" for the party to rebuild its position in Scotland in time for the poll on May 5.

Senior Scottish Labour figures reacted with fury, accusing Ms Abbott of knowing nothing about Scotland, adding that "nobody up here takes her seriously", while the SNP said that the remarks were an embarrassment for Ms Dugdale.

But Labour rejected suggestions that the close ally of Mr Corbyn would be taking part in a “penance tour”.

But one added: “All shadow cabinet members will be campaigning in Scotland in the run up to the Holyrood elections”.

Friends of Ms Abbott's insist that she is “popular” with voters in Scotland.

Ms Dugdale was applauded by Mr Corbyn and deputy leader Tom Watson as she arrived at the shadow cabinet meeting.

It is understood her address did not linger on recent opinion polls and instead outlined a positive vision for how Scottish Labour plans to fight the election.

With the SNP currently on course for a landslide victory, Scottish Labour sources warn that the party could lose all its constituency seats.

After the meeting, Ms Dugdale said that all those present were “left in no doubt at all that I will run an upbeat campaign with confidence in Labour's vision for Scotland.”

She added: "Those who don't live and breathe Scottish politics every single day may not be aware of the significance of the major new powers coming to Scotland. They will fundamentally change Scottish politics forever. “

Mr Corbyn, who has visited Scotland once a month since he was elected leader, has been bullish about the chances of a Labour revival north off the Border.

Ms Dugdale herself has admitted her party faces a difficult task in this election, saying that a good result would be to be "clapped off the pitch at the end of the season".

The latest spat is not the first time that Ms Abbott has clashed with party colleagues in Scotland.

In the run up to the General Election she criticised then Labour leader Jim Murphy's plan to employ 1,000 extra nurses in Scotland, using the proceeds of a mansion tax, the effects of which would have been concentrated in the south-east of England,. as "highly unscrupulous".

She accused him of wanting to "expropriate money from Londoners to win an election in Scotland".

Mr Murphy hit back that the proposed tax was UK-wide.