Diane Abbott has Labour whip restored but 'won't stand in General Election'

28 May 2024, 19:21 | Updated: 28 May 2024, 22:46

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

Diane Abbott has had the Labour whip restored but will not stand as Labour candidate at the upcoming General Election, it is understood.

Ms Abbott was suspended from Labour since April last year after comments she made about the Jewish community.

The former Labour MP said in the Observer that Jewish people did not experience racism “all their lives”.

ITV are reporting that the whip has been restored after The Times previously reported that under 'no circumstances' will she be allowed to stand for the Labour party on July 4.

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Asked about Ms Abbott's future earlier today, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told reporters earlier today: "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'll do that in due course."

Speaking in The Observer last April, the former shadow home secretary under Mr Corbyn said Jewish people "undoubtedly experience prejudice", which is "similar to racism" but often used as if they are interchangeable.

She said that "many types of white people" - including redheads - can experience this prejudice, but that they are not "all their lives" subjected to racism.

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Ms Abbott added: "In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus.

"In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote. And at the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships."

Ms Abbott immediately had the whip removed.

A Labour Party spokesperson said at the time: "The Labour Party completely condemns these comments which are deeply offensive and wrong."