Labour MPs together with Diane Abbott ‘provided peerages to step down’

Labour MPs including Diane Abbott have been ‘offered peerages to step down’, it has been claimed, as Sir Kier Starmer said he has more respect for the veteran politician than she realises amid an on-going row over whether Abbott will be allowed stand as a Labour candidate.

Several left-wing MPs have claimed that since Rishi Sunak made his surprise general election announcement, they were told they would be raised to the House of Lords if they passed up their seats to allow allies of party leader Starmer to take their place.

It comes as Starmer was alleged to have been attempting to fill Labour’s safest seats with allies including Josh Simons, head of the Starmerite think tank Labour Together, Luke Akehurst, a centrist member of the executive committee, and Alex Barros-Curtis, Labour’s head of legal, according to The Sunday Times.

Speaking to the newspaper, one former MP said: ‘They offered me a seat in the House of Lords because some little boy wanted my seat.’

Another allegedly claimed that the peerages began being offered after the general election was called and ‘suddenly there was a flurry of people standing down’ who had previously claimed they would be standing.

Starmer was alleged to have been attempting to fill Labour’s safest seats with allies, according to The Sunday Times

Veteran MP Diane Abbott was allegedly offered a seat in the House of Lords as Labour attempted to create a ‘peace deal’

If Starmer wins the July 4 general election, he is expected to fill the House of Lords with new Labour peers.

The Labour leader was also accused of orchestrating a left-wing purge of his party when Dianne Abbott, 70, became the first-ever black woman elected to Parliament, appeared to be stopped from standing. 

But he heaped praise on the veteran MP in an interview with The Observer.

‘Although I disagree with some of what she says, in terms of the battles she has been through and the terrible insults she has had to rise above, I have actually got more respect for Diane than she probably realises,’ he said.

However, it can now be revealed that Abbott was offered a seat in the House of Lords as Labour attempted to create a ‘peace deal’.

‘This just goes to show that we wanted her to retire, not be purged. But we haven’t been going around talking about it,’ one more source told The Sunday Times. 

After days of speculation about whether Ms Abbott would be able to contest the Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat, Starmer confirmed on Friday that she is ‘free’ to stand as a Labour candidate on July 4.   

The Labour leader told reporters: ‘The whip has obviously been restored to her now and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate.’

On Friday, Sir Keir praised Ms Abbott as a ‘trailblazer’, saying: ‘Diane Abbott was elected in 1987, the first black woman MP.

‘She has carved a path for other people to come into politics and public life.’

Labour sources said Ms Abbott will be the Labour candidate in her long-held constituency and the NEC is expected to support her candidacy. 

In response to the news, Ms Abbott said her local party selected her as their candidate in 2022. 

‘But I will not be the official candidate until I am endorsed by the Labour National Executive at its meeting on Tuesday. So I am not saying anything until then,’ she said.

Speaking at the launch of the Conservative Party campaign bus on Saturday, Mr Sunak hit out at Labour for its back-and-forth on the subject.

The Tory leader said: ‘Just see what’s happened over this Diane Abbott situation. And it confirms what we know about him: it’s that he doesn’t stick by anything he says, just constantly changes his mind.

Starmer told The Observer: ‘Although I disagree with some of what she says, in terms of the battles she has been through and the terrible insults she has had to rise above, I have actually got more respect for Diane than she probably realises’

‘And it’s clear that Angela Rayner is in charge of the Labour Party and not him.’

It comes as Mr Sunak’s election campaign was dealt another hammer blow as a new poll showed Labour’s lead is at its highest level since Liz Truss’s premiership.

A survey carried out by Opinium showed Labour up four points to 45 per cent, with the Tories down two to 25 per cent, putting Labour on course for a landslide victory.

The poll was conducted between May 29 to May 31 – at a time of uncertainty in Labour’s campaign, suggesting that Mr Sunak’s shock announcements on mandatory national service and tax cuts for pensioners have not impressed voters.