Diane Abbott readmitted to Labour - but set to be exiled as MP after 37 years
Ms Abbott's career as an MP is on the brink this evening as Labour moves to ban her as a candidate.
Diane Abbott receives riposte over antisemitism in Labour
Diane Abbott will not be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate at the general election, in a hammer blow to the Labour left.
According to a report in The Times this evening, the Labour leadership has concluded there "are no circumstances in which she will stand under its banner on July 4".
While the party hasn't said anything yet, the paper says an announcement could be made as soon as later today, which will likely result in a huge civil war erupting in Starmer's party.
Last week Sir Keir told LBC that the issue would need to be resolved very shortly, but refused to rule out allowing her back into the party.
Despite her pending early retirement, however, in a peace offer this evening Ms Abbott was handed the Labour whip back after 13 months as an independent.
While Diane Abbott has many hard-left supporters, she caused fury in 2023 when she wrote a letter to the Observer claiming that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”.
Announcing her suspension and investigation, Labour said the comments were “deeply offensive and wrong”.
She wrote that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people "undoubtedly experience prejudice", which she said is "similar to racism”.
She continued: "It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice.
"But they are not all their lives subject to racism.
"In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus.
"In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote.
"And at the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships."
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Responding to her claims, the Board of Deputies of British Jews described them as "disgraceful" and her apology "entirely unconvincing".
Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge called the letter “deeply offensive and deeply distressing”.
She backed the suspension of the whip, tweeting: "No excuses. No delays.
It's not clear, if blocked from running for Labour, whether Ms Abbott would copy her political soulmate Jeremy Corbyn in standing as an independent candidate.
The news has already sparked outrage on the Labour left, with a spokesman for Momentum describing the move as "outrageous".
They added that the delay in resolving her status as a candidate "confirms that the Starmer leadership is trying to force Britain’s first black woman MP out of parliament”.
Responding to the news, Tory chairman Richard Holden said: “On Friday Sir Keir Starmer said that the investigation into Diane Abbott’s conduct was ongoing and ‘not resolved’".
“Now it has been confirmed the Labour investigation into Diane Abbott concluded five months ago and she has already been given a formal warning. It's inconceivable that Starmer, the Labour Leader, wasn't told the process had finished and a warning issued.
“No ifs, no buts, this isn’t another flip-flop or yet another policy u-turn. Sir Keir Starmer has blatantly lied to the British people and has serious questions to answer.”
