Diane Abbott says the Labor Party will not allow her to stand in the July election despite the party's re-establishment.
Diane Abbot said she has been banned from standing as a candidate for the Labor Party in Britain's next general election.
Britain's first black female lawmaker told the BBC on Wednesday that the party will not allow her to stand in the July 4 election, despite lifting her suspension, which was enacted last year over her comments about racism.
“Although the whip has been reinstated, I am banned from standing as a Labor candidate,” Abbott, who was first elected to parliament for the Labor Party in 1987, told the British public broadcaster by text message.
Abbott was reinstated as a Labor MP on Tuesday after completing a party inquiry into comments she had made in a letter to The Observer newspaper, claiming that Jews, Irish and Travelers “undoubtedly experience prejudice” but do not face the racism “everyone”. their lives”.
Abbott was suspended despite apologizing “unreservedly” for the comments.
Abbott, a long-time campaigner on issues including racism, poverty and international affairs in her London constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington, was a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, who led the party from 2015 to 2020.
Under Corbyn's leadership, the left-wing party was investigated by the equalities watchdog, which found serious failings in the way the party had tackled antisemitism.
Corbyn was replaced as party leader by Keir Starmer, who has sought to crack down on alleged antisemitism.
Corbyn was also banned from running as a Labor candidate after he said antisemitism in the party had been “dramatically exaggerated” for political reasons. Last week he announced that he would run as an independent candidate.
'Pioneer'
Lawmakers from the Labor Party's left-wing opposition have been angered by Abbot's treatment, pointing to the racism and sexism he has faced in his decades in politics.
Jacqueline McKenzie, a human rights lawyer and friend of Abbott, told BBC Radio that he should have been given “greater respect and greater dignity than having these leaks.”
In March, The Guardian newspaper revealed that Frank Hester, the largest donor to the ruling Conservative Party, had made racist comments about Abbott, saying that looking at her made him want to hate all black women and that “she should be shot.”
At the time, Starmer defended the legislator as a “pioneer.” “He's probably faced more abuse than any other politician over the years on a sustained basis,” he said.
However, the Labor leader, who has moved the party towards the centre, will be cautious about allowing the issue surrounding the 70-year-old lawmaker to become a distraction ahead of the election, in which he appears likely to Labor regains power for the first time. time in 14 years in the July contest.
Last week, UK political leaders began six weeks of campaigning before the country votes for a new government. A poll of voting intentions this week gave Labor a 23-point lead over the ruling Conservatives.
