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Diane Abbott has been cleared to stand as a Labour MP days after she swiftly deleted a tweet accusing Sir Keir Starmer of lying about his respect for her.
Ms Abbott has been rubber stamped as a candidate by the party’s powerful National Executive Committee (NEC).
It comes as former leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Labour of hanging her “out to dry” as Britain’s first Black female MP faced horrific racist abuse.
Writing for The Independent, Mr Corbyn said the treatment of the veteran politician, who has been at the centre of a storm over whether she would be allowed to stand for the party, had been an “utter disgrace”.
On Friday Sir Keir Starmer said the veteran MP would be “free” to stand for the party after days of an extraordinary back and forth about whether she would be blocked.
The dramatic U-turn came after his deputy Angela Rayner broke with her party leader to say Ms Abbott should be allowed to fight the seat she has represented for nearly four decades.
On Sunday, Ms Abbott declared her intention to run as she denied she had been offered peerage to stand down.
But just hours later she accused Sir Keir of being dishonest in claiming that he has “more respect for (her) than she probably realises”, in a tweet that was quickly deleted.
In an interview with The Observer, the Labour leader had said: “Although I disagree with some of what she says, in terms of the battles she’s been through and the terrible insults she has had to rise above, I’ve actually got more respect for Diane than she probably realises…
“She was the first Black woman MP and has always had to fight for everything. She’s not like any other candidate.”
Sharing that article in a now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Abbott said: “More lies from Starmer.”
It is not known whether the post was written by Ms Abbott herself or by someone with access to her account.
In his piece, Mr Corbyn said: “The way that Diane Abbott has been treated is an utter disgrace – and I am disgusted by the blatant double-standards, hypocrisy and contempt for local democracy, in plain sight for all to see.
“Take a look at her social media and you will see the horrific levels of racist abuse she is forced to endure – and she has been hung out to dry.”
He added: “Make no mistake about the party’s intentions over the past few months: to try and silence a female Black voice who has the courage to stand up for a better world. It is thanks to the power of solidarity that, this time, they have failed”.
Last week Sir Keir refused to say whether Ms Abbot would be defending her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat on 4 July, as he faced claims his party was conducting a “purge” of left-wing candidates.
Ms Abbott had been suspended from Labour after she suggested that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice but not racism.
But she was given the Labour whip back last week, a move which cleared the way for her to stand for the party.
Source: independent.co.uk
