Labour chiefs were pressing ahead with “rubber-stamping” Diane Abbott to stand as a Labour MP in London again amid a social media row over whether she accused Sir Keir Starmer of “more lies”.
The Labour leader on Friday said Ms Abbott would be “free” to stand again in Hackney North and Stoke Newington having for days declined to say so, with claims that she would be barred.
He later said: “I’ve actually got more respect for Diane than she probably realises.”
Ms Abbott, 70, who over the weekend said she intended to stand in the seat she has represented since 1987, apparently tweeted, in response to a headline on a Guardian story about the Labour leader’s respect for her: “More lies from Starmer.”
Good to see people scrutinising to check tweet is real. Important to be alert to dodgy info.
— Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) June 2, 2024
But for those asking, I screengrabed this from original tweet. https://t.co/wTxcYrLDRW
Some people on social media questioned whether it was a genuine tweet, or a fake.
But BBC political journalist Nick Eardley tweeted the image of Ms Abbott’s alleged message on Twitter/X, adding: “Good to see people scrutinising to check tweet is real. Important to be alert to dodgy info.
“But for those asking, I screen grabbed this from original tweet”.
Both Ms Abbott and the Labour Party declined to comment on the veracity of the tweet.
The spacing in it looked unusual compared to most of Ms Abbott’s tweets which generally do not have spacing.
There was also no time stamp, though, this could have been because the screen grab was of a tweet which has been clicked on on a mobile phone.
The row over the tweet, though, meant that shadow defence secretary John Healey, appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, was first asked about Ms Abbott rather than the party’s campaign day on defence.
He said there had been “confusion” about Ms Abbott’s future before she was allowed to stand.
“I’m happy that the way is clear now for Diane now to make that decision,” he said.
“She says she wants to stand, she says she wants to win.
“She is in the same position as I am as every other Labour candidate.
“We are a candidate, we expect to be confirmed by the party together, as a rubber-stamp exercise tomorrow.”
But Mr Healey was pressed by presenter Ed Balls, a former Labour Cabinet minister, about Ms Abbott’s reported “more lies” tweet.
Mr Balls asked: “Is that the kind of behaviour you would expect from a Labour candidate?”
Mr Healey responded: “You obviously follow Twitter much more closely than I do.
“I didn’t see it. If she has removed it then I can’t check it.”
But pressed again on the “more lies” apparent jibe, the shadow Cabinet minister said: “The ball is in Diane’s court.
“If she wants to stand, she says she does, the way is now clear.
“She will be, if she wants to stand, endorsed as a Labour candidate, I expect tomorrow alongside myself and candidates in 650 seats across the country.”
Questioned by Mr Balls if there was “bad blood” within the Labour ranks, Mr Healey responded: “She is a major figure, a role model for many people, 37 years in the House of Commons, the first black woman MP, she is a trailblazer.”
Labour withdrew the whip in April 2023 from Ms Abbott after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experienced prejudice, but not racism all their lives.
She later said that she wished to "wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them".
