It has been 13 months since the Labour party suspended Diane Abbott for comments about which groups do and do not experience racism. Since then there has been endless speculation about the political future of Britain’s first black female MP, who has spent nearly four decades in Westminster.
On Wednesday, that question became further obscured after Abbott announced she had been handed back the Labour whip, but would not be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate – a decision Keir Starmer later denied. Abbott insisted she would continue as an MP for “as long as I’m allowed to”.
