Labour MP Diane Abbott has claimed that she has been barred from standing for her party at the next general election. Abbott, the former shadow home secretary, was suspended in April 2023 after suggesting that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people did not face racism “all their lives”. While her suspension was lifted on Tuesday, the MP alleges that she has been told she will not be permitted to stand for party in her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat.
Abbott, who was the UK’s first Black female MP when she was elected in 1987, apologised and retracted her remarks shortly after making them. At the time, Labour launched an investigation into her conduct. This concluded in December 2023, when Abbott was given a “formal warning” by the party’s National Executive Committee. In addition to the warning, Abbott was required to undertake a two-hour online antisemitism awareness course.
The MP’s suspension was lifted following this action. However, no announcement has been made by Labour about their candidate for the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency, which Abbott has represented since 1987. Labour have until June 7 to confirm all their candidates for the general election, following the completion of internal selection processes.
Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting commended the suspension’s lifting, saying that despite Abbott’s “wrong” comments, the former shadow home secretary had apologised and this had “clearly been accepted” by the party. However, he added that he was not aware of decisions relating to individual candidate endorsements, so could not comment on Abbott’s specific situation.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a close ally of Abbott’s, has confirmed that he will stand against Labour in his own seat of Islington North. Corbyn was suspended from the party in 2020 after claiming that the extent of antisemitism within the party had been “dramatically overstated”
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