Investigation into racial dispute between Labour Party members and Abbott completed

As BBC Newsnight has revealed, the Labour Party’s investigation into Diane Abbott over her comments on racism will be completed in December 2023.

Ms Abbott, the long-serving MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, received a formal warning for her behaviour and was required to complete an “anti-Semitism awareness course”.

A source close to the veteran politician said that despite all this, she had still not been informed whether she would be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate in the general election in her constituency.

Ms Abbott was suspended as a Labour MP 13 months ago after claiming Jews, Irish and Travellers had not been subjected to racism “all their lives”.

She apologized on X, formerly known as Twitter, and retracted her remarks.

A source close to Ms Abbott said she did not expect her suspension to be lifted. They accused the party of having a “predetermined outcome” and of “dragging out the process to stop her from standing in the election”.

The Labour Party told Newsnight that it does not comment on disciplinary proceedings.

Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) wrote to Ms Abbott in December 2023 that it had completed its eight-month investigation into her comments.

She received a “formal warning” for behaving “in a manner which, in the opinion of the NEC, was prejudicial and highly damaging to the Labour Party”.

It said she was expected to take part in an “online e-learning module,” which one source said was a two-hour anti-Semitism awareness course.

Ms Abbot completed the module in February and subsequently allegedly received an email from the Labour Party leader confirming her participation.

On Friday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told BBC News that Diane Abbott “is going through a disciplinary process, is part of it and will see it through to the end because of a statement she made.”

He said the matter would be resolved “within a few days as the deadline for submitting applications approaches.”

Ms Abbott is currently an independent MP and is not allowed to represent the Labour Party in the House of Commons. She has been an MP since 1987, was the first black woman elected to Parliament and a staunch supporter of former party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

She is said to be “angry, depressed and exhausted” about the way she feels the party has treated her, but the support of activists in her constituency is said to be giving her a boost.

Her suspension came after she wrote in a letter to the British newspaper Observer that Irish, Jews and Travellers are “undoubtedly subject to prejudice” which, in her opinion, “is similar to racism”.

The letter continues: “It is true that many white people with special characteristics, such as redheads, can be subject to this prejudice.

“But they are not exposed to racism their entire lives.”

In her apology, Ms Abbott said there were “errors” in an initial draft, adding: “But there is no excuse and I would like to apologise for any distress caused.”

According to BBC Newsnight, Ms Abbott made it clear to the NEC that the “first draft” was the only version that had been written.

When asked about Ms Abbott’s comments a day after the letter was published, Sir Keir condemned them as anti-Semitic and said: “We must never accept that there is some kind of hierarchy of racism.”

The party said it had set up an independent complaints procedure to investigate the cases.

For more on this story watch Newsnight on BBC2 at 10.30pm or on BBC IPlayer.