Diane Abbott returns to Labour after racism controversy

LABOUR PARTY said on Thursday (30) that it had readmitted the country's longest-serving female lawmaker Diane Abbott, ending a suspension imposed last year over comments on racism that had reignited a row over antisemitism.

Abbott, Britain's first Black woman member of parliament, was suspended by the Labour in July 2025 under Keir Starmer – who stepped down as prime minister earlier in July – after she had said she did not regret remarks on racism that had led to an earlier suspension in 2023.

In a statement on Thursday, Labour said Abbott had been readmitted to the party and had the Labour whip restored following a process conducted under party rules and approved by its independent review board.

Abbott said in a statement posted on X that she had been and remains "a lifelong anti-racist and remain deeply committed to opposing racism in all its forms."

A Labour spokesperson said the party had also reinstated Joani Reid, who had been sitting as an independent lawmaker after voluntarily suspending herself from Labour following reports that her husband had been arrested on suspicion of assisting China's foreign intelligence service.

A party source familiar with the matter said Reid was never part of the police investigations into the alleged spying.

Abbott was suspended by Labour in 2023 after saying the prejudice experienced by Jewish people was similar to, but not the same as, racism. She later apologised and withdrew the remarks. She was readmitted to Labour shortly before the July 2024 national election.

But the party suspended her again the following year after she had told BBC Radio that there was a difference between racism based on skin colour and other forms of racism, and said she did not regret the earlier controversy.

Starmer had made tackling antisemitism within Labour a central part of his leadership, after the party faced accusations of discrimination and harassment against Jewish people under former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

(Reuters)