ABBOTT TURN
Keir Starmer caves to Diane Abbott & says she CAN stand as Labour MP in biggest U-turn yet
The wannabe PM backed down to the veteran left-winger following a massive backlash at his bungled attempt to bar her
FLIP-FLOPPING Sir Keir Starmer today folded to a leftie backlash led by his own deputy to let Diane Abbott stand for Labour.
The wannabe PM was accused of being “pushed around” after declaring the veteran Corbynista MP fit to be a party candidate at the election.
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It marks a massive u-turn after he bungled an attempt to oust Ms Abbott over an anti-semitism storm.
After a chaotic 72 hours trying to weather the row, Sir Keir said yesterday: “The whip has obviously been restored to her now and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate.”
He praised the “trailblazer” Hackney North MP who was the first black woman in the Commons when elected in 1987.
Sir Keir caved after being ambushed by both Angela Rayner and Scots leader Anas Sarwar who insisted Ms Abbott should be allowed to contest the election.
Union backers and left-wing pressure groups had also turned the screw and yesterday The Sun revealed he was on the brink of u-turning.
Last night the Tories seized on his flip-flop and claimed Sir Keir was too weak to be in Downing Street.
A spokesman said: “Angela Rayner is pushing Keir Starmer around. Under pressure, he's showing he's a weak leader who's losing control of the Labour Party.
Why was Diane Abbott suspended by Labour?
By NOA HOFFMAN, Political Correspondent
DIANE Abbott lost the Labour whip in April 2023 after she suggested Jewish people don’t suffer racism.
In a bizarre letter to the Observer, the veteran left-winger compared “discrimination” against Jews to that experienced by people with ginger hair.
She said: "It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice.
"But they are not all their lives subject to racism.”
The comment sparked fury with many pointing to the Holocaust as evidence of why Ms Abbott’s claim was so egregious.
Former Jewish Labour MP for Barking Margaret Hodge slammed it as “deeply offensive and deeply depressing”.
Ms Abbott apologised the morning her comments were published.
She claimed an “initial draft” was sent accidentally.
But in an effort to show he’s serious about cracking down on antisemitism, Sir Keir Starmer withdrew the whip.
"That makes it even clearer that you don't know what you're going to get if Keir Starmer becomes Prime Minister – apart from higher taxes on you and your family.”
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Conservative chairman Richard Holden said: “What Angela wants, Angela gets. Weak, weak, weak.”
The row has been overshadowing Sir Keir's election campaign with him relentlessly dogged by questions over the saga.
Ms Abbott was suspended last year for suggesting Jews do not face racism like black people do - likening their plight to that of ginger folk.
At the time Sir Keir called her remarks “anti-semitic” and insisted he had a “zero tolerance policy”.
He will now face serious questions over his decision to welcome back Ms Abbott, expected to be formally rubber stamped at the Starmer-loyal National Executive Committee next week.
Ms Abbott last night said she will await their verdict but that the “narrative does look positive”.
Analysis: An unforced error by Starmer he has been forced to address
By RYAN SABEY, Deputy Political Editor
THE unravelling of the Diane Abbott controversy has dogged the first full week of the election campaign.
Keir Starmer wanted to talk about his big GB Energy policy today but that has gone by the wayside with the focus on the party stalwart.
He wants to be on the front foot showing leadership during this election as he prepares for Downing Street.
It had been widely expected that she would be given the Labour whip back but she would stand down gracefully as an MP after 37 years.
But after major interventions from deputy leader Angela Rayner and Scottish Labour chief Anas Sarwar demanding she stand, Sir Keir has caved in to pressure.
It will lead to many voters wondering who is pulling the strings in the party.
This will be seen as an unforced error by the leadership spending days on whether she should or shouldn’t stand.
Jeremy Hunt this week said that how will Sir Keir handle Vladimir Putin on the world stage if he can’t handle dealing with the stalwart.
Diane Abbott said it was “appalling” that there was a purge of the left being carried out by the leadership.
There are clearly moves to do that - but they can’t touch Diane Abbott.
She lives to fight another day.
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