Angela Rayner has said she wants to see Diane Abbott let back into the parliamentary Labour party and that she does not know why the party leadership has not apologised to the MP over racist abuse she faced internally. The party’s deputy leader said she sometimes shared “frustrations” with how long Labour investigations took, while noting they had to follow procedures. Abbott, who was first elected as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in 1987, has sat as an independent MP since April. The Labour whip was withdrawn after her letter to the Observer suggesting Jewish, Irish and all Traveller people were not subject to racism “all their lives”. She swiftly apologised, but faced disciplinary action from the party. Keir Starmer has said the party “must support” Abbott after the Guardian revealed comments made by Frank Hester, the Conservatives’ biggest donor, that have been widely condemned as racist and misogynistic. But the Labour leader said the issue should not be conflated with the antisemitism accusations she faces over the Observer letter.
Asked if she wanted to see Abbott back in the party, Rayner said: “Personally, I would like to see Diane Abbott back, but the Labour party has to follow its procedures. “For me the most important thing is that we have made sure our party is fit to govern by making sure we have got robust complaint procedures that people can have confidence in.” She said she and Starmer “do not interfere” with the complaints process although she did “share the frustration, at times, of how long these processes take, but in some instances there are sensitive reasons for that”. Rayner told the Guardian she did not believe Labour “doesn’t have any racists in it, because it’s a massive organisation”, but said the party had done “a lot of work” since the Forde report to “root people out”. In 2022, Martin Forde KC, the senior lawyer who was commissioned by Starmer, the Labour leader, to investigate allegations of bullying and racism in the party, revealed in his report that party staff had used “racist tropes” to describe Abbott, and made “expressions of visceral disgust” when referring to the longest-serving black MP. Abbott has said on a number of occasions she has not received an apology for the attitudes expressed towards her and other black MPs in a private WhatsApp exchange shared by Labour staff hostile to Jeremy Corbyn. When asked why the Labour leadership had not apologised to Abbott over the racism she had faced within the Labour party, Rayner told the Guardian: “I don’t know why Diane hasn’t received an apology about the Forde report. “I’m not sure what that process is but I know the NEC [national executive committee] has looked at that Forde report and the NEC was absolutely appalled and has taken steps around disciplinary which I can’t discuss. It’s a staffing issue. Some of it’s around our policies and procedures. Some of it was about the tone in which the party was operating. “We’ve put in place measures to make sure that members and staff understand what is acceptable behaviour.” Veteran Labour figures across party factions have said they would like the Labour whip returned to Abbott. The MP Harriet Harman, Ed Balls and John McDonnell, two former shadow chancellors from opposite wings of the party, and the backbench MPs Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Dawn Butler have all called for the party whip to be restored to Abbott. Rayner added: “What some members of staff said about Diane was disgusting. It was absolutely disgusting. Diane’s faced this for a very, very, very long time. And she’s faced it with grace and she’s carried on but I hope the next generation don’t have to go through what Diane Abbott has gone through.” Guardian Newsroom: What is Labour’s plan? On Tuesday 16 April, 8pm–9.15pm BST, join Gaby Hinsliff, Tom Baldwin, Polly Toynbee and Kiran Stacey as they discuss the ideas and the events that might shape Labour in power. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live