Diane Abbott is “free to stand” as a Labour candidate in the general election, Keir Starmer has said. The Labour leader had spent three days insisting her candidacy was not in his power, and it was a matter for the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC), but the row was increasingly distracting from Labour’s election campaign. He had also faced increasing pressure after his deputy, Angela Rayner, broke ranks to say she did not see “any reason” why Abbott should not stand for the party. The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, then said: “I agree with Angela.” On Friday in Scotland, Starmer told reporters: “The whip has obviously been restored to her now and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate.” However, less than an hour before his comments, friends of Abbott said the politician was sure she would not be allowed to stand, and that she had not had talks with the leadership about being a candidate since a briefing to the Times on Tuesday that she would be barred. They said she was still hopeful of putting herself forward as the Labour candidate for the east London seat, but felt that it was a “fait accompli” that some elements around the leadership would block her. Despite Starmer’s reversal, many Labour figures are still upset and furious with the handling of Abbott’s investigation and the determination of her future within the party. It even prompted well-known Black British figures including Lenny Henry and David Harewood to sign a damning open letter calling Labour’s treatment of Abbott “disproportionate, undemocratic and vindictive”. They urged the party to “rectify and reverse” the “disrespectful” treatment of the veteran MP. The letter said: “Sir Keir Starmer’s denials on this matter must be treated with some scepticism. Just last Friday he said the investigation into her conduct had not been resolved even though Abbott had satisfactorily completed the disciplinary process in February.
“Indeed, the fact that the party reached its conclusion several months ago and failed to readmit her to the parliamentary party until earlier this week, after the story broke, indicates a determination to humiliate her. Coming from a community where discrimination is a daily reality, we know unfairness when we see it.” Lord Woolley, the co-founder of Operation Black Vote, said Starmer and the Labour party had “a lot of work to do to build trust within the black community”. Abbott, who was the longstanding MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, was suspended from the Labour party last year after she suggested in a letter to the Observer that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experienced prejudice, but not racism, sparking a long-running process during which she sat as an independent MP. When Labour’s campaign coordinator, Pat McFadden, was asked whether Starmer could make a decision to reinstate Abbott last Thursday, he told BBC Radio 4: “Of course he can.” The following day, Starmer told the BBC: “The days when the Labour leader rolls up his or her sleeves and gets involved in disciplinary cases are well and truly over.” Labour party sources on Friday confirmed Abbott would be the candidate if she wanted to be, and insisted she had never been barred. Abbott told broadcasters that she “would not be the official candidate until I am endorsed by the Labour national executive at its meeting on Tuesday”, but added: “The narrative does look positive.” It came as several members of Starmer’s inner circle were imposed as parliamentary candidates. Labour insiders said the moves demonstrated the ruthlessness with which Starmer and his aides were reshaping the party in their image. Alex Barros-Curtis, who is in charge of legal affairs for Labour, was installed as the party’s candidate in Cardiff West, while former Starmer aides Chris Ward and Uma Kumaran were selected in Brighton Kemptown and Stratford and Bow. Heather Iqbal, a former aide to Rachel Reeves, will stand in Dewsbury and Batley, while Josh Simons, the executive director of the highly influential Starmerite thinktank Labour Together, was selected in Makerfield. Several members of Labour’s NEC were also chosen to stand including Gurinder Singh Josan in Smethwick, Luke Akehurst in North Durham, and the NEC chair, James Asser, in West Ham and Beckton. Torsten Bell, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation who is Ed Miliband’s former head of policy, was selected on Friday in Swansea West.