Diane Abbott has accused Keir Starmer‘s aides of being intent on her ‘humiliation’ when they demanded she step down as an MP before the election.
The MP launched a blistering attack on the party – refusing to share if she would join them under the current leadership and even revealing that she hinted she might run as an independent candidate in the last election to ‘upset them’.
She said the party had tried to push her around – as she admitted she is not friends with Starmer.
The veteran left-winger, who has been MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, was suspended for more than a year before being handed back the whip in May after an investigation into her comments about Jewish people in a letter to the Observer newspaper.
Ms Abbott says that they tried to make her stand down from her post ‘within hours’ of the her being allowed back into the party – which she refused as she felt she would have felt like she had traded her constituency to save her reputation.
Blasting the government in an interview with The Guardian, she said: ‘My humiliation was their intent. That’s why I wouldn’t agree to it. They thought there was political gain in it. Keir Starmer had kept saying, ‘It’s a new party, it’s a new party.’ If it’s a new party, then what could be more emblematic than getting rid of Diane Abbott. People tried to tell them to leave it. But they were insistent.’
Diane Abbott launched a blistering attack on the party – refusing to share if she would join them under the current leadership and even revealing that she hinted she might run as an independent candidate in the last election to ‘upset them’
She said the party had tried to push her around – as she admitted she is not friends with Starmer
She continued: ‘I held out and held out, and it was a question of who blinked first. And they blinked first. You don’t become Britain’s first Black woman MP because you give in to being pushed around like that.’
Ms Abbott said that under the deal for her standing down she could ‘maybe’ become a part of the House of Lords.
The Mother of the House – who has earned the title for being the longest-serving female MP in the Commons – was one of the staunchest supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, serving as his Shadow Home Secretary.
The former Leader of the Opposition himself was suspended by Labour in 2020 after he refused to fully accept the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s findings that the party broke equality law when he was in charge and said antisemitism had been ‘dramatically overstated for political reasons’.
The pair – who had a romantic relationship in the 1970s – were well known for fighting for their left-wing beliefs for decades.
And now Ms Abbott has slammed Starmer – who became an MP less than ten years ago – and his team for having ‘no sense’ of the history of the party, and her grass-roots support network.
She told editor-at-large Gary Younge: ‘I think they didn’t understand how much resistance there would be to that because a lot of the people around Starmer are these young guys and have no sense of the history.’
The backbencher added: ‘What people forget about Keir Starmer is he hasn’t been in the party very long. So though we were in the shadow cabinet at the same time under Jeremy, he’s not somebody I know, in the way I know, say, Harriet Harman. We’re not best friends or anything, but I’ve known her for a long time. There’s a history. There’s no way I’d know him in that way because he’s not been around the movement in that way.’
The Mother of the House – who has earned the title for being the longest-serving female MP in the Commons – was one of the staunchest supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, serving as his Shadow Home Secretary
Ms Abbott says that they tried to make her stand down from her post ‘within hours’ of the her being allowed back into the party – which she refused as she felt she would have felt like she had traded her constituency to save her reputation. Pictured: Supporters of Diane Abbott outside Hackney Town Hall in May
The treatment of Ms Abbott earlier this year sparked anger at Sir Keir from even among the party leader’s allies.
John McTernan, who was Tony Blair’s political secretary, said: ‘It’s not for the Labour Party to ban a woman with Diane Abbott’s record from standing for the Labour Party if that’s what she wishes to do.’
He added: ‘This kind of briefing is aimed at humiliating her and that is disgraceful, utterly disgraceful.
‘Whoever is responsible for this should hand their head in shame.’
Mr Corbyn, who ran and won as an independent candidate in the recent elections, claimed Ms Abbott had been ‘disgracefully treated’ by Labour bosses.
Ms Abbott ‘liked’ a social media post by Mr Corbyn’s wife Laura Alvarez praising his decision to stand against Labour in his Islington North constituency.
Endorsing anyone other than a Labour candidate in an election risks being a breach of party membership rules.
Mr Corbyn told the PoliticsJoe website: ‘Diane has been disgracefully treated by the Labour Party and by, particularly, the individual national officials of the party – all of them.’
The treatment of Ms Abbott earlier this year sparked anger at Sir Keir from even among the party leader’s allies. Pictured: On the steps of Hackney Town Hall in May
He added: ‘If she’s reinstated, good. If not she’s got a choice of her own to make. But whatever she does, I’ll support her.’
Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson said: ‘Solidarity with Diane, undeniably a trailblazer & a hero of our movement.
‘At a time when all our energy should be focussed on throwing the Tories out, this process looks nakedly factional.
‘Diane should have the whip restored now so she can stand as Labour’s candidate in the GE.’
The Labour leader’s first full week on the campaign trail was overshadowed by the embarrassing row over whether she would be allowed to stand for the party.
In front of around 200 supporters at a rally outside Hackney Town Hall, Ms Abbott vowed to stay on as an MP ‘by any means possible’ and accused the Labour party of wanting to ‘exclude’ her from Parliament.
On top of this Starmer was defied by some of his key shadow cabinet members including his deputy Ms Rayner who said was no good reason Ms Abbott couldn’t run. Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting admitted that he was ‘not particularly comfortable’ with the way Ms Abbott has been treated.
He finally took the decision to allow her to stand for Labour a week into the campaign, telling reporters: ‘The whip has obviously been restored to her now and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate.’
Praising her as a ‘trailblazer’, he said: ‘Diane Abbott was elected in 1987, the first black woman MP. She has carved a path for other people to come into politics and public life.’
A member of the NEC claimed Sir Keir had ‘lied’ about not being in charge of the decision to allow Ms Abbott to stand.
A spokesman for Momentum, a campaign group set up to back Jeremy Corbyn, mocked Sir Keir, saying: ‘You come at the queen, you better not miss. Diane Abbott has been bullied & abused her whole career. Starmer tried to force her out. She held firm – and won. This is a huge victory.’
The Labour Party has been contacted for comment.