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Three days into a row over whether the veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott will be able to stand again, Keir Starmer has finally given his verdict.
Speaking to reporters in Scotland on Friday, the party leader said: “The whip has obviously been restored to her now and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate.”
Starmer had come under intense pressure to allow Abbott, the UK’s first female black MP, who has represented Hackney North and Stoke Newington for 37, of her 70 years, to stand. Senior figures from within his party, including deputy leader Angela Rayner and Scottish leader Anas Sarwar, said she should.
The issue has also reignited Labour’s internal warfare, with those on the left of the party claiming that they are being blocked, while those who are allied with Starmer or more broadly on the right of the party are welcomed with open arms.
