Lucy Connolly has accused Sir Keir Starmer of holding her as a political prisoner in her first interview since she was jailed for posting a 'racist tweet'.

Ms Connolly, 42, believes the Prime Minister's intervention - condemning last summer's riots as 'far-right thuggery' - affected the way she was treated 'a hundred per cent'.

The childminder from Northampton also revealed she is planning to take legal action against the police and will meet officials from the Trump administration tomorrow.

Ms Connolly was released from prison yesterday after she was handed a 31-month sentence for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers online in the aftermath of the Southport attacks.

The post, which she later deleted, said: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care... if that makes me racist so be it.'