Diane Abbott has tonight warned that she ‘will not be intimidated’ as she vowed to stay on as the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington for ‘as long as it is possible’.
The Labour veteran broke cover today as Sir Keir Starmer’s party struggled to contain a row over whether she has been blocked from standing as a candidate at the July 4 general election.
Mr Starmer is facing a mounting backlash over the treatment of Ms Abbott, 70, who has been MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987.
Ms Abbott was suspended from Labour’s parliamentary party for more than a year, amid an investigation into her comments about Jewish people in a letter to the Observer newspaper in April 2023. However, it has emerged that the race row probe ended months ago.
Britain’s first black female MP had the Labour whip restored yesterday, but initially appeared to confirm this morning that she had been banned from standing.
The situation descended into confusion again hours later when she posted on social media that she was ‘dismayed’ by ‘reports’ she would not be allowed to stand.
Addressing a crowd of around 200 supporters outside Hackney Town Hall this evening, she said: ‘You have always stood with me, in good times and bad. And I will always stand with you. I am not going to allow myself to be intimidated. I am going to be your MP for as long as I am allowed to.
‘I remember when I first ran as a Labour MP all the way back in 1987 people thought I couldn’t win.
‘People thought you couldn’t elect a black woman to parliament because it had never been done before. But local people went out, campaigned, knocked on doors and made me Britain’s first black woman member of parliament.
‘And I have to keep faith with that loyalty – I have to keep faith with my principles, I have to keep faith with supporting and speaking up for equalities, poor people, for the community here in Hackney.
‘So I promise you that as long as it is possible, I will be the member of parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.’
Ms Abbott’s comments will deliver a stark warning to Labour that if they do not allow her to stand, she may continue to run as an independent.
Mr Starmer has already faced this with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is running as an independent in Islington North.
After reports emerged that Ms Abbott had been blocked from standing as a Labour MP, Mr Starmer insisted that was ‘not true’, telling reporters: ‘No decision has been taken to bar Diane Abbott.
‘The process that we were going through ended with the restoration of the whip the other day, so she’s a member of the parliamentary Labour Party and no decision has been taken barring her.’
Mr Starmer is facing anger from even his allies at Labour’s treatment of Ms Abbott.
John McTernan, who was Tony Blair’s political secretary, said: ‘It’s not for the Labour Party to ban a woman with Diane Abbott’s record from standing for the Labour Party if that’s what she wishes to do.’
He added: ‘This kind of briefing is aimed at humiliating her and that is disgraceful, utterly disgraceful.
‘Whoever is responsible for this should hang their head in shame.’
Mr Corbyn claimed Ms Abbott had been ‘disgracefully treated’ by Labour bosses.
He told the PoliticsJoe website: ‘Diane has been disgracefully treated by the Labour Party and by, particularly, the individual national officials of the party – all of them.’
He added: ‘If she’s reinstated, good. If not she’s got a choice of her own to make. But whatever she does, I’ll support her.’
Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson said: ‘Solidarity with Diane, undeniably a trailblazer & a hero of our movement.
‘At a time when all our energy should be focussed 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.’
At the start of a chaotic day in politics, Ms Abbott told the BBC this morning: ‘Although the whip has been restored, I am banned from standing as a Labour candidate.’
Ms Abbott recently ‘liked’ a social media post by Mr Corbyn’s wife Laura Alvarez praising his decision to stand against Labour in his Islington North constituency.
It is unclear whether this might have been behind the decision, but endorsing anyone other than a Labour candidate in an election risks being a breach of party membership rules.
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.