When Keir Starmer walked up the steps of the Commons to the green leather benches where Diane Abbott was sitting at prime minister’s questions this week, some took it as a sign of thawing relations.
The veteran MP has been sitting as an independent since she had the Labour whip removed almost a year ago, as the party sought to head off a fresh antisemitism storm after she suggested Jewish people did not face lifelong racism.
But this week the Guardian revealed that Britain’s longest-serving black MP had been the subject of comments by Frank Hester that have been widely condemned as racist and misogynistic. It emerged that the Conservatives’ biggest donor had told colleagues “you just want to hate all black women because she’s there”.
In the Commons, Abbott had just sat through the session, which had been dominated by the controversy, and had not been permitted to ask a question of her own.
Later, Abbott revealed that Starmer had told her: “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” To which she responded: “You could restore the whip.”
The Labour leader replied: “I understand. Just let me know if there’s anything … ” Again, she said: “Restore the whip.”
Yet the MP’s chances of rejoining the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) appear remote, after Starmer told the BBC on Thursday that her suspension “was for an entirely different issue” from the Hester row.
“All I’m saying is the abhorrent language used by the Tory donor about Diane Abbott is abhorrent, needs to be called out, the money needs to be returned,” the Labour leader said. “That’s one thing. There is a separate issue which is Diane’s own language, which is subject to a different procedure. I don’t think we can conflate the two at this stage.”
Abbott, who became the first black woman to be elected to parliament in 1987, was stripped of the whip last April after she said in a letter to the Observer that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people were not subjected to racism “all their lives”.
The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP later apologised “unreservedly” for any “anguish” caused and said she withdrew the comments. A Labour spokesperson said at the time that her remarks were “deeply offensive and wrong”.
The party launched an internal inquiry and has faced criticism that it has not yet concluded this. The chief whip’s decision on the suspension is linked to the outcome of this investigation.
Abbott’s allies believe the Hester row could be the moment to draw a line under the inquiry. “This is an opportunity for the relationship to thaw,” said one Labour MP. “The question is: what is the process for that reinstatement to take place?”
John McDonnell, who was shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, said: “Members on the left, right and centre of the Labour party are calling for the whip to be restored to Diane Abbott. She made a mistake. She swiftly and profusely apologised. She should be treated in the same way as others who have gone through this and have the whip back.”
Ed Balls, the former shadow chancellor, who is from the other wing of the party, said: “She was suspended from the PLP a year ago for saying something she probably shouldn’t have said and she apologised for it. The fact that a year on she’s still outside the PLP, my personal view is she should be brought back following that apology and she should be supported and defended rather than left on her own, which is what’s happening at the moment.”
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said on Thursday she would like to have Abbott back in the fold. “Personally I would like to see Diane back but the Labour party has to follow its procedures,” she said.
Rayner said she could understand the frustration that people had that some disciplinary cases could take time to resolve, but that “sensitive” issues could often be factors.
However, after PMQs, Starmer’s spokesperson confirmed to reporters that the complaint was being investigated in isolation and Abbott’s current situation would not be taken into consideration. “The broad principle I would say is that complaints are looked at on the merits of the complaint that is being investigated,” he said.
Another senior party figure said: “They’re completely unlinked. It doesn’t make any difference to the substance. I just can’t see her getting the whip back.”
Labour is so far sticking to the line that Abbott is subject to an independent process, but as the next election creeps closer questions will inevitably arise about whether she will be allowed to stand again. When the election campaign begins, the party’s ruling national executive committee is expected to rapidly decide the fate of any MP who still does not have the whip. It also has special powers it can deploy in exceptional circumstances.
Yet other factors could be taken into account, even if the inquiry into Abbott’s remarks has concluded, in any decision over her longer-term political future.
One party insider pointed to Abbott’s X feed, on which she retweeted last week a post with the hashtag “#itsascam”, a reference to the theory that antisemitism allegations levelled at Corbyn were part of a campaign to discredit him. “Look at all the things she’s been tweeting in the last week,” the source said. “You can think both that the abuse she receives is abhorrent and racist but also think the stuff she’s tweeting isn’t great.”
Officially, Labour refuses to be drawn on the timing of any decision. “Disciplinary cases can take time,” a spokesperson said. “It’s not appropriate to comment on individual cases.”
There have been rumours of a deal for Abbott to have the whip reinstated as long as she agrees to stand down from her Hackney seat, where she has a majority of 33,188, at the next election.
Before her suspension, there had been speculation about a seat in the House of Lords. Yet her supporters on the left want her to stand again for parliament. Her political future then remains unclear.
• This article was amended on 15 March 2024 to more fully describe the remarks made by Diane Abbott in a letter to the Observer that led to her expulsion from the parliamentary Labour party.
