Diane Abbott has been readmitted as a Labour MP, the BBC understands, but it remains unclear whether she will stand for the party at the general election. The former shadow home secretary was suspended in April 2023 after writing that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people do not face racism 'all their lives'.
Her suspension meant she could not stand for Labour on 4 July. Party officials had tried to broker a deal by which she would get the whip back in return for standing down, but it is not clear if the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP has accepted that arrangement.
Labour has not said who its candidate will be in the Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat. Ms Abbott has been contacted for a comment. The party is currently selecting remaining candidates before a meeting to endorse them next week, before nominations legally close on 7 June.
Labour launched an investigation after Ms Abbott wrote in the Observer that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people 'undoubtedly experience prejudice' which she said is 'similar to racism'. She apologised and withdrew her remarks shortly after they were published. BBC Newsnight revealed earlier that the party's investigation was completed in December 2023.
Labour's National Executive Committee issued her with a 'formal warning' for 'engaging in conduct that was in the opinion of the NEC, prejudicial and grossly detrimental to the Labour Party'. It expected her to undertake an 'online, e-learning module', which a source said was a two-hour antisemitism awareness course. Ms Abbott did the module in February, after which she received an email from Labour's chief whip acknowledging she had completed it.
Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden said it was 'inconceivable' that the Labour leader 'wasn't told the process had finished and a warning issued'. Ms Abbott, who became the first black woman to be elected to Parliament in 1987, was a close ally of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and served as his shadow home secretary.
