Angela Rayner declares Diane Abbott SHOULD be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate – despite claims she’d been banned

ANGELA Rayner has declared Diane Abbott SHOULD be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate - despite claims she had been banned.

Labour’s deputy leader made a major intervention to say she could not “see any reason” why the veteran left-winger should not represent the party on July 4.

In an interview with ITV, Ms Rayner, said that was “not happy” about claims Ms Abbott, 70, had been barred from standing, despite the Hackney North MP appearing to confirm them herself yesterday.

Probed on the confusion around Ms Abbott's selection squabble, Rayner told ITV: “I don’t see any reason why Diane Abbott can’t stand as a Labour MP going forward.

"I am saying that as the deputy leader of the Labour Party.”

She added that she was “not happy” about negative briefings against Ms Abbott, adding: “I don’t think that is how we should conduct ourselves.”

And of reports that Ms Abbott had been blocked from standing for Sir Keir Starmer's party, she added: “I don’t think that is how we should conduct ourselves.”

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Rayner doubled down by hailing Abbott as an "inspiration to many people".

She went on: "People from her background and people who look like her have a place in our politics.

"And she's been able to demonstrate that. You can see the difference on our benches.”

Asked about Sir Keir’s role in the row, she added: “I’m pretty certain that Keir would see that as a frustration because actually Keir is not focused on what's going on in the Labour Party.

"He's focused on what he would do as prime minister and how he will change the country for the better.”

It comes hours after party chief Starmer, 61, insisted no decision had been made and the matter was for Labour's National Executive Committee.

His handling of the fallout has triggered outrage from Labour's union paymasters who insist Abbott, who was backed by Jeremy Corbyn in the row, be selected.

The spat escalated further when left-wing candidate Faiza Shaheen was blocked from standing against former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith in Chingford and Woodford Green.

Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle was also struck off over "serious" allegations, which he denies.

Asked if the double de-selection was a purge on left-wing candidates, Rayner told The Guardian: “I don’t think it’s a purge.

"I don’t know the details of the individual cases but I do know that we put a robust system in place around vetting and dealing with serious allegations that are made in the party."