Sir Keir Starmer is facing fury after it emerged a race row probe into Diane Abbott ended months ago – but she still hasn’t been told if she can be a Labour candidate.
Ms Abbott, who has been MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, has had the Labour whip withdrawn for more than a year.
She was suspended amid an investigation into her comments about Jewish people in a letter to the Observer newspaper in April last year.
According to BBC Newsnight, that investigation was completed in December last year with Ms Abbott given a formal warning over her conduct.
She was also reportedly required to complete an ‘antisemitism awareness course’.
But a source close to Ms Abbott said she is still yet to be told whether she can stand as a Labour candidate in her north London constituency at the general election.
Supporters of the veteran MP on Labour’s left-wing hit out at the ‘outrageous’ treatment of Ms Abbott by Sir Keir and party bosses.
It also came amid a row over claims Sir Keir is lining up key allies to a string of safe seats after six current Labour MPs announced last-minute retirements.
Last week, ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – an ally of Ms Abbott – confirmed he will run as an independent candidate after being barred from standing for the party.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing fury after it emerged a race row probe into Diane Abbott ended months ago – but she still hasn’t been told if she can be a Labour candidate
Supporters of the veteran MP on Labour’s left-wing hit out at the ‘outrageous’ treatment of Ms Abbott by Sir Keir and party bosses
Ms Abbott issued a swift apology for her remarks in April last year, after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience ‘prejudice’ but are not ‘subject to racism’.
She was forced to sit as an independent MP in the House of Commons while a probe was launched into her remarks.
The BBC reported that Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) wrote to Ms Abbott in December 2023 saying it had concluded its eight-month inquiry.
It issued her with a ‘formal warning’ for ‘engaging in conduct that was in the opinion of the NEC, prejudicial and grossly detrimental to the Labour Party’, it was claimed.
The NEC also reportedly said it expected Ms Abbott to undertake an ‘online, e-learning module’, which she is said to have completed in February.
Sir Keir last week refused to be drawn on on whether Ms Abbott would be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate in Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
‘The NEC will be coming to decisions on the final list of candidates in due course, so you’ll see that when the decisions are taken,’ the Labour leader said on Saturday.
Labour told BBC Newsnight that it does not comment on disciplinary cases.
Sir Keir told reporters on a general election campaign visit to Stevenage this afternoon: ‘Well, the process overall is obviously a little longer than the fact finding exercise.
‘But in the end, this is a matter that will have to be resolved by the National Executive Committee, and they will do that in due course.’
The revelation sparked intense anger on Labour’s left-wing, with a spokesperson for the Momentum group saying: ‘This is outrageous news which confirms the Starmer leadership is trying to force Britain’s first black woman MP out of Parliament.
‘For months we have been told by Keir Starmer that the process is independent and it’s nothing to do with him.
‘Today’s revelation confirms this is another brazen lie from Keir Starmer – the investigation was concluded months ago, Diane remains a Labour member and the whip should already have been restored as a result.
‘Starmer’s conduct has already been insulting and demeaning to a woman he rightly called a ‘trailblazer’ – the first step to making amends is to restore the whip and let Diane run as the Labour candidate, as local members wish.’
Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that key allies of Sir Keir are expected to be lined up as candidates in a string of safe seats.
There has been a last-minute spate of Labour MPs announcing they will stand down from the Commons ahead of the 4 July general election.
They include Barbara Keeley, John Cryer, John Spellar, Virendra Sharma, Kevin Brennan and Julie Elliott.
Senior Labour figures close to Sir Keir – including NEC members – are tipped to chosen as candidates in the now-vacant seats.