“Whoever is responsible for this should hang their head in shame.”
John McTernan
By the Labour Outlook team
News on Tuesday night that Diane Abbott MP had had the Labour Whip restored by the party leadership was soured as party sources briefed journalists she would be blocked from standing as the candidate in Hackney North and Stoke Newington – the seat she has represented since 1987.
Attempts by party spokespersons on Wednesday’s media, including an interview with leader Keir Starmer and a media round by Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting to distance themselves from any such decision held little water.
Starmer reportedly told journalists, “No decision has been taken to bar Diane Abbott. The process that we were going through ended with the restoration of the whip. No decision has been made in terms of barring her.”
Yet senior sources told The Times within minutes of her having the whip restored, that she would not be a candidate.
Labour’s candidates are formally signed off at an NEC meeting on Tuesday 4th June.
It is this meeting that could choose not to endorse individual candidates such as Diane Abbott with the majority of NEC members prepared to act in accordance with the views of the Leader’s Office.
The threat of Diane Abbott not being selected has caused a backlash within the party and from key figures outside it which threaten to cause political splits during an election campaign, if not resolved.
As covered already on Labour Outlook, six trade unions affiliated to the party, including largest union Unite, have urged Keir Starmer to confirm Diane will be the candidate at the General Election.
Leading legal figure Martin Forde KC, who authored the Forde Report on behalf of Keir Starmer, said the way Diane Abbott’s situation has been handled is “utterly shambolic” and “deeply disturbing”
Shabna Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust, said, “The double standards in the treatment of Diane Abbott is abhorrent. Racism and misogynoir against Black women in the workplace is rife across society; our political class is no exception.”
Tony Blair’s former adviser, John McTernan, said the Diane Abbott investigation “designed to humiliate’ her and that, ‘whoever is responsible for this should hang their head in shame.”
Independent journalist and race correspondent, Nadine White, wrote, “Labour’s poor treatment of Diane Abbott, Britain’s first Black woman MP, has further damaged the party’s relationship with Black voters.”
Guardian journalist Rachel Shabi said, “Labour’s treatment of Diane Abbott is an absolute disgrace. Rotten, bullying factionalism that shows us the party views racism purely as a game, a thing to be weaponised when politically convenient”.
Sitting NEC member, Jess Barnard, said “for 5 months, Starmer has been sitting on Diane’s resolved case, running the clock down apparently with one aim – to push her out. Another case of political interference. What happened to that independent processes called for by the EHRC?”
Fellow NEC member, Mish Rahman, said: “Keir Starmer doesn’t care about Black and Muslim people. He has one rule for white MPs like Steve Reed, Barry Sheerman and Neil Coyle and another for Black and Brown MPs – especially women as we see with treatment of Diane Abbott”
Liverpool MP Kim Johnson and chair of the BAME caucus in the PLP said, “Solidarity with Diane, undeniably a trailblazer & a hero of our movement. At a time when all our energy should be focused on throwing the Tories out, this process looks nakedly factional. Diane should have the whip restored now so she can stand as Labour’s candidate in the GE.”
Outgoing Labour MP Beth Winter said, “I am glad Diane Abbott has finally had the Labour Whip restored. The way she has been treated is vindictive, factional and cruel. She should be allowed to decide whether she will re-stand as a candidate.”
Left members’ organisation Momentum said in a statement, “Keir Starmer’s treatment of Diane Abbott has been appalling, vindictive & cruel. It is a slap in the face not just to Diane, but to the millions inspired by her as Britain’s first Black woman MP.”
- Supporters of Diane Abbott have called a community rally in support of Diane outside Hackney Town Hall in East London at 6.30pm, Wednesday 29th May. More info here.
- Over 15,000 activists have signed a petition to Keir Starmer calling on the Labour Leader to restore the whip to Diane Abbott.
- If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.
Who are these “sources” who wreak such havoc? Describing councillors leaving the party in protest over Gaza as “shaking off the fleas.”. Attributing Labour’s poor performance in the face of an independent candidate in a mayoral election to Hamas. Pre-emptively briefing the Times that the NEC would bar Diane Abbot’s candidature. Each of these non-attributable statements supposedly on behalf of the party had to be rescinded by the party leadership. Surely it’s time to expel these “sources” from the for up-ending the leadership’s message. Why haven’t they been disciplined for bringing the party into disrepute?
So going to an “Anti Semitism Awareness” is basically a pointless process of humiliation, like an invitation to self criticism during the Cultural Revolution