Diane Abbott has revealed that she is being banned from standing as a Labour MP.
The veteran MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington said she was given the Labour whip back on Tuesday but then shortly afterwards a story appeared in a newspaper saying she would still not be allowed to stand as a Labour MP at the general election on July 4.
She told The Standard on Wednesday: “I had the whip restored yesterday afternoon but within minutes we saw they had briefed the Times the story as attached, that you have probably seen. And it is true.”
Naturally I am delighted to have the Labour Whip restored and to be a member of the PLP.
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) May 29, 2024
Thank you to all those who supported me along the way.
I will be campaigning for a Labour victory.
But I am very dismayed that numerous reports suggest I have been barred as a candidate. pic.twitter.com/OKdyLLOmvE
Later, the prominent London MP tweeted: “Naturally I am delighted to have the Labour Whip restored and to be a member of the PLP.
“Thank you to all those who supported me along the way. I will be campaigning for a Labour victory.
“But I am very dismayed that numerous reports suggest I have been barred as a candidate.”
Sir Keir Starmer has faced a backlash from Leftwingers and some other Labour activists over the refusal, at least so far, to allow Ms Abbott, Britain’s first female black MP, to stand again as a Labour MP.
The Labour leader said on Wednesday that Ms Abbott has not been barred and no decision has been taken.
He told broadcasters: "I've seen various reports, I can only tell you what the factual situation is - as you know, the whip has been restored to Diane Abbott and no decision's been taken barring her from standing. That's the factual position and I've been happy to say that when asked to do so."
The row was threatening to overshadow Labour’s announcement on Wednesday on cutting NHS waiting lists.
Asked about the reported ban on Ms Abbott standing, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting told Times Radio: “I’m not aware of the circumstances.
“I know that Diane had the whip restored and her suspension lifted yesterday. This was following her suspension over remarks that she made for which she later apologised.
“I know at this stage, in terms of decisions about her candidature, as much as has been reported.”
He added: “What I’m interested in and concerned about are the eight million people who have been waiting on NHS waiting lists and the risk of that rising potentially to ten million if Rishi Sunak is given the keys to No10 again.”
Pressed whether he was comfortable about the disciplinary process which Ms Abbott went through, Ilford North MP Mr Streeting said: “Not particularly, this has gone on for a very long time.
“But I’m here this morning to talk about the NHS waiting lists and what we do about them and I say this with enormous respect for everything that Diane has achieved in politics...this election is about the future of our entire country.”
He also insisted that the disciplinary process is independent from Labour party chiefs.
Asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain if Ms Abbott not being allowed to stand shows there is a "purging of the hard Left" from the party, Mr Streeting said: "There is no question the Labour Party has changed from the party that was rejected in 2019."
He added: "We have undergone that change as a party to be in a position where we can offer the serious change, the serious alternative that our country is crying out for. And goodness knows we need it when you look at the state of the economy, rising rents, rising bills, rising mortgages, rising NHS waiting lists."
Labour withdrew the whip in April 2023 from Ms Abbott, who was first elected to Parliament in 1987, after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experienced prejudice, but not racism all their lives.
BBC Newsnight reported that Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) had written to Ms Abbott in December 2023 to say it had concluded an inquiry into her comments.
Sir Keir has declined to say whether she would seek election under his party's banner on July 4.
Asked about the investigation finishing in December, the Labour leader said: "The process overall is obviously a little longer than the fact-finding exercise.
"But in the end, this is a matter that will have to be resolved by the National Executive Committee and they'll do that in due course."
Sir Keir has previously said he could not get involved in the case, which would be resolved by June 4, when Labour's final list of candidates is decided.
The Times reported days ago that Ms Abbott will be banned from standing as a Labour candidate, with suggestions the lifting of her suspension would allow her to leave politics "with dignity".
Campaign group Momentum said restoring the whip to Ms Abbott only to block her would be "outrageous".
"Following a farcical, factional process, she has had the whip restored. Her local party reselected her unanimously. That should be the end of the matter.
"Anything less is a slap in the face to Diane, her constituents and the millions inspired by her example as Britain's first black woman MP."
Jeremy Corbyn, under whose leadership Ms Abbott served as shadow home secretary, posted a video in which he said Ms Abbott "has been disgracefully treated by the Labour Party" and left "in limbo".
Ms Abbott was reported to have been issued with a "formal warning" by the NEC for "engaging in conduct that was, in the opinion of the NEC, prejudicial and grossly detrimental to the Labour Party".
She was told to take part in an online e-learning module, which she completed in February, something that Labour's chief whip allegedly acknowledged by email.
Ms Abbott was an independent MP when Parliament was prorogued on Friday, May 24, ahead of the July 4 election.
The veteran MP was suspended after she responded to an Observer article headlined: "Racism in Britain is not a black and white issue. It's far more complicated."
She wrote in a letter to the title: "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."
Ms Abbott later said she wished to "wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them".
