Diane Abbott will not be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate at the general election, according to reports.
The MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington, who served in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, was suspended from the party in April last year after she suggested that Jewish people did not experience racism “all their lives”.
Her comments came against a backdrop of historical claims of anti-Semitism in the party – a problem Sir Keir Starmer has been keen to stamp out since he took over as leader.
Despite her allegedly not being able to stand again, it is understood that Ms Abbott was given back the Labour whip on Tuesday with Labour sources telling The Telegraph that senior figures in the party were trying to reach a “soft landing” for the MP whereby she can “go with grace”.
The party leadership has decided that there are no circumstances in which she will stand for Labour on July 4, according to The Times.
Those close to Sir Keir are hoping to reach a deal with Ms Abbott, whereby in exchange for having the whip restored she agrees not to stand as an MP, according to the source.
“They don’t think it is appropriate for her to stand again but they are trying to reach out to her and get a soft landing – an agreement that she will retire in exchange for symbolically getting the whip back,” they said.
“They are keen to reach an amicable agreement that reflects her unique status as an iconic figure for a lot of ethnic minority people.”
Some Labour MPs have been pushing for Ms Abbott, who is the first black female MP, to be given a seat in the Lords.
Kim Johnson, a Labour MP on the Left of the party, urged Sir Keir to allow Ms Abbott to stand as the party’s candidate in the election.
She wrote on Twitter:
Earlier on Tuesday, Sir Keir was accused of lying after it emerged that the investigation into Ms Abbott was completed last year.
When asked whether Ms Abbott would be readmitted into the party, he has repeatedly insisted that the matter is being dealt with by an independent process that has nothing to do with him.
On Tuesday, BBC Newsnight reported that Labour’s national executive committee had completed its investigation into Ms Abbott in December and she subsequently took a two-hour online anti-Semitism awareness training course.
The matter was subsequently said to have been passed to Sir Alan Campbell, the Labour chief whip, but Ms Abbott has not heard from Sir Alan since they held a meeting earlier this year.
Asked about the row on Tuesday morning, Jonathan Reynolds, a Labour frontbencher, refused to say whether Ms Abbott would be one of the party’s candidates at the general election.
Mr Reynolds said he wanted the case “resolved as soon as possible” but declined to say whether she should be allowed to stand on a Labour ticket.
The Labour Party has set an internal deadline of June 4 to select all its candidates around the country, meaning it now has a week to decide whether to readmit Ms Abbott and allow her to run as the Labour candidate for her constituency. She could otherwise stand as an independent candidate.
Jess Barnard, who sits on Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, told The Telegraph that Sir Keir has been “untruthful” to suggest the process is independent, given that the “independent” NEC investigation concluded five months ago.
She told The Telegraph: “It is clear for everyone to see that they are running the clock down to the general election and they are using the NEC as a cover to run an alternative candidate. Although we see Keir Starmer claim that this is an independent process, we all know that it’s not.
“If the conclusion of a case is that Diane Abbott should have been readmitted, those are instructions that the whip and Keir Starmer should have followed. Their decision not to conclude that case is political interference. It is very clear for everyone to see that it is Keir Starmer who is calling the shots.”
Sir Keir, along with members of his shadow cabinet, has maintained that there is an ongoing independent process into Ms Abbott. In March, he said her suspension from the parliamentary Labour Party was subject to an independent process that was separate from him.
A spokesman for Momentum, the Left-wing pressure group, claimed the revelation that the NEC investigation had concluded in December showed Sir Keir had been “lying”.
He said: “The whole process has served to expose the fiction that the Labour leadership’s handling of the whip is independent and that what is happening has nothing to do with Starmer. It has everything to do with him.
“Clearly it has been in his hands and in the hands of the chief whip for months now and they have been pretending it isn’t to try and push Diane out. Now they have been exposed and they have a choice – do they really want to go ahead with forcing out Britain’s first black woman MP or do they want to do the right thing, let her back in and let her run?”
Asked whether he had given misleading answers over Ms Abbott’s case, Sir Keir, speaking at an event in Stevenage, said: “The process as a whole obviously involves both the findings of fact and then the consequent action on the back of that, which the chief whip is overseeing.
“That always takes time. So the process as a whole was not completed, but in the end, it’s a matter for the NEC.” Asked when a decision would be made, he added: “I think fairly soon. The question of candidates is being finalised at the moment.”
Following her suspension from the party last year, Ms Abbott apologised for her remarks and claimed they were a first draft sent to The Observer in error.
In March, she claimed Labour would not return the whip because she was too critical of the party leadership. She has said Labour’s economic policy is not Left-wing enough and advocated a return to policies advocated by Mr Corbyn.
Last week, the former Labour leader announced that he would stand against Labour as an independent candidate in Islington North, presenting a major headache for Sir Keir.
The Labour Party has been contacted for comment.
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2024-05-28 20:55:14Z
CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI0LzA1LzI4L2dlbmVyYWwtZWxlY3Rpb24tbGF0ZXN0LWZhcmFnZS1zdGFybWVyLXJpc2hpLXN1bmFrLWxpdmUv0gEA
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