Diane Abbott readmitted to Labour

Diane Abbott has been readmitted to Labour just days after Andy Burnham took over as leader.

On Thursday night, Ms Abbott apologised for a post on X in which she referred to the Israeli Defense Forces as the “Jewish Defence Force”, and Labour said she had been readmitted to the party following a disciplinary process.

It follows calls by fellow Left-wingers for Mr Burnham to let her back into the party, but Labour insisted her readmittance was unconnected to the change of leader.

Ms Abbott was suspended last year after she had doubled down on a claim that Jewish people experienced racism differently to black people.

She was initially suspended in 2023 over a letter to the Observer newspaper, in which she said Jewish, Irish and Traveller people “undoubtedly experience prejudice” but “they are not all their lives subject to racism”.

She likened the prejudice those groups experienced to that faced by redheads.

Shortly before the general election, she was readmitted to Labour but was then suspended again last year after she used a BBC interview to defend her remarks and say she did not regret the incident. Since then, she has been sitting as an independent MP.

Ms Abbott, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group, Labour’s most Left-wing faction. She ran against Mr Burnham for the Labour leadership in 2010.

During his leadership campaign, Mr Burnham repeatedly promised to end “factionalism” within Labour.

He promised not to use party discipline to “stifle debate” and suggested his approach to party management would differ from that of his predecessor, who repeatedly withdrew the whip from rebellious MPs.

Last week, Mr Burnham brought three members of the Socialist Campaign Group into his government as ministerial aides. It is the first time members of the group have entered government under a Labour prime minister.

Early in his leadership, Sir Keir purged Jeremy Corbyn from the party in an attempt to stamp out anti-Semitism, and suspended Left-wing MPs who defied the whip to vote in favour of lifting the two-child benefit cap in the first month of his premiership.

Meanwhile, four Left-wing Labour MPs were suspended from the party last year but have since been readmitted. When he was mayor of Greater Manchester, Mr Burnham called for Sir Keir to readmit the welfare rebels.

John McDonnell, who served as shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, had called on Mr Burnham to allow Ms Abbott to return to the party.

He said on X last week: “Today marks one year since Diane Abbott was suspended from the Labour Party. Andy Burnham should do the right thing and bring Diane back.

“Andy Burnham aims to change the culture of the Labour Party and return to being a broad church – a pluralist party where people’s views are respected. A first step would be to restore the Labour whip to Diane Abbott.”

Formal warning

Fellow Labour MP Joani Reid, who “voluntarily” suspended herself in March following the arrest of her husband on suspicion of spying for China, was also readmitted to the party on Thursday evening.

In a statement on Thursday night, Ms Abbott said: “Today, following a process conducted in line with party rules and approved by the independent review process, I have been readmitted to the Labour Party.

“I have been issued with a formal warning for a tweet I previously posted. By inadvertently referring to the Israeli Defence Force as the ‘Jewish Defence Force’, I used wording that conflates the actions of the state of Israel with the Jewish community. I am deeply sorry for any hurt caused by that conflation and apologise for any hurt caused by it.

“I have been and remain a lifelong anti-racist and remain deeply committed to ending racism in all its forms.”

Louise Haigh, the First Secretary of State, welcomed Ms Abbott’s return to the party, praising her as “Labour to her bones”.

She told BBC Breakfast that what the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP had said last year was “completely unacceptable”.

But she added: “She’s made an apology, and I think that’s right. And again, she’s received the appropriate response from the party.”

The Cabinet minister said: “Diane Abbott is a trailblazer, the first black woman elected to Parliament. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult that was for her in the 1980s when Parliament was so male and so white. The abuse she’s received over the years has been phenomenal.”

She added: “She is Labour to her bones, and I welcome the decision by the independent process to readmit her.”

A Labour Party spokesman said: “The Labour Party expects the highest standards from our elected representatives and party members. The Party assesses any alleged breaches of such standards independently of the leadership and political interference.

“Following a process conducted under Labour Party rules and approved by the independent review board, Diane Abbott and Joani Reid have been readmitted to the Labour Party and have had the Labour whip restored in the House of Commons.

“Diane Abbott has also apologised following the independent process coming to an end. All Labour elected representatives must be mindful at all times of their platform and the responsibilities that come with that privilege.”

Ms Abbott is the Mother of the House, the longest-serving female MP, having been elected in 1987.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]