29 May 2024 • 10:07am
10:07AM
Diane Abbott pictured this morning Credit: Sky News 10:06AM
Diane Abbott ‘dismayed’ by prospect of ban Naturally I am delighted to have the Labour Whip restored and to be a member of the PLP.
Thank you to all those who supported me along the way.
I will be campaigning for a Labour victory.
But I am very dismayed that numerous reports suggest I have been barred as a candidate. pic.twitter.com/OKdyLLOmvE
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) May 29, 2024 10:01AM
Pictured: Starmer takes the bins out this morning Credit: Jeremy Selwyn 9:57AM
Streeting: Labour better prepared on NHS now than in 1997 Wes Streeting has said Labour is better prepared for the healthcare challenge than it was in 1997, Amy Gibbons reports.
He also said the party cannot afford the headline demand from junior doctors, but is “willing to negotiate” on getting back to “fair pay”.
Speaking to BBC Radio Berkshire, he said Labour has a “serious plan” on the NHS which it can use to “hit the ground running” on “day one”.
“That gives me the confidence to tell you that not only are we better prepared for the challenge than we were in 1997, we will be able to make progress so fast that we can get waiting times down to the 18 week NHS standard within the first term of Labour government, within the first five years,” he added.
On junior doctors’ strikes, he said: “The 35 per cent headline pay demand they’re making is not something that an incoming Labour government would be able to afford. But we would want to work with junior doctors, recognising that getting back to fair pay is going to be a journey, not an event. So we’re willing to negotiate on that.”
9:47AM
Labour ‘100 per cent’ committed to 40 new hospitals Wes Streeting has said Labour is “100 per cent” committed to delivering on the Tories’ promise to build 40 new hospitals, writes Amy Gibbons.
The shadow health secretary has previously said the work is “simply not going to happen” by 2030, as pledged in Boris Johnson’s 2019 manifesto.
But speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire on Wednesday, he said Labour is “absolutely committed” to seeing the projects delivered.
Asked if he would continue the plan to replace hospitals in Lancaster and Preston, he said: “Yes, I can give you a 100 per cent guarantee on that.”
He added: “I’m sure the Tories will sling mud in the coming weeks and say we’re going to scrap the programme. The Health Secretary tried to accuse me of that just the other week. I can tell you we are absolutely committed to seeing all of those projects delivered.”
9:44AM
Watch: Labour MP Dawn Butler on team Starmer’s ‘West Wing’ mentality 9:39AM
Labour’s in the driving seat, insists Streeting Wes Streeting has compared Labour’s plans for weekend NHS clinics to Formula One pit stops, writes Amy Gibbons.
The shadow health secretary pointed to the approach at Guy’s and Thomas’ Hospital in London as an example of the practice he wants to roll out across the country.
Credit: Jay Williams Speaking to BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester, he said: “In Guy’s and St Thomas’, the hospital I can see from my office window in Westminster, it was the initiative of consultants and clinical staff, backed by their managers, to adopt weekend clinics using, actually, a pretty similar approach that Formula One would use in terms of their own race cars – getting people through, organising their clinics in a more efficient way.
“Because you’re focused on one task, one set of procedures, and you can race through that backlog more quickly than you could in standard clinics.”
9:34AM
Lib Dem activists gather ahead of Davey campaign rally Liberal Democrat activists are gathering in the rural Welsh market town of Knighton, Powys, ahead of a campaign rally with Sir Ed Davey, my colleague Tim Sigsworth reports.
The party leader will be with Jane Dodds, the candidate here in the new Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe constituency.
This is one of the Lib Dems’ target seats and they need a swing of 8.7 per cent to win it.
Ms Dodds, the leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, is currently the party’s only member of the Welsh Parliament.
She previously won in this seat’s predecessor, Brecon and Radnorshire, in an August 2019 by-election before being ousted by Labour’s Fay Jones at the December 2019 general election. The seat was held by the Lib Dems from 1997 to 2015.
9:28AM
No one will be ‘forced’ to work overtime, says Streeting Wes Streeting has insisted no one will be “forced” to work overtime under Labour’s plans to put on an extra 40,000 appointments each week by utilising weekend and evening slots, writes our Political Correspondent Amy Gibbons.
The shadow health secretary confirmed the arrangement would be on a voluntary basis, with staff paid at around one and a half times their normal rate to take on the extra shifts.
Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, Mr Streeting said: “No member of staff is going to be forced to do it with good reason, because there’ll be some staff who say, ‘well, hang on a minute. I already feel I’m doing more hours or as many hours as I can do, I’ve got family or caring responsibilities’.
“The thing that gives me reassurance is that where this has been tried and tested in hospitals in London, in Leeds, where Keir Starmer and I went to see this working in practice, they’ve had no problem filling these shifts.
“Unlike other parts of the NHS, they’ve never had to rely on agency workers, temporary workers. The regular salaried staff are choosing to do this work because not only can they see the value of it, more often than not they’ve been the staff that have been designing as well as delivering the service.
“And that’s why to help the NHS improve overall, we’re going to take our best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS with new teams from those hospitals to train up and advise other hospitals to achieve the same success that they have.”
9:24AM
‘Elphicke is not standing for Labour at this election either’ Asked what qualities Tory defector Natalie Elphicke had that Diane Abbott did not, Wes Streeting replied: “Natalie Elphicke is not standing for Labour at this general election either.
“What Natalie Elphicke and Dan Porter represented I think is millions of Conservative voters that can see the absolute chaos and incompetence of the Conservatives, and are putting their faith in Labour at this general election.”
Mr Streeting said Labour “want to welcome millions of people who have seen the chaos and incompetence of the Conservative Party, and are looking for change with Labour”.
“I think it speaks volumes that two MPs who crossed the floor to join Labour, nothing in it for them, everything in it for the country.”
He declined to say whether he would allow Ms Abbott to stand if the decision was up to him.
9:22AM
Streeting: I’m very happy disciplinary decisions rest elsewhere Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, was asked about Diane Abbott by Sky News.
“I’ve been relying on the news reports this morning in terms of the decision that may have been taken. I’ve seen what Diane Abbott has said publicly. I’m not involved in this process so I’ll resist the temptation to be a commentator and just say that, and I say this with enormous respect for everything Diane Abbott has said as a trailblazer, I have enormous respect for her and her achievements.”
Asked whether her treatment had a “stench of racism”, he replied: “The first thing I’d just say is I’ve got quite enough to worry about as shadow health secretary without being involved in those processes… The disciplinary is rightly separate from our shadow cabinet. Particularly today, I’m very happy that those decisions rest elsewhere.
“More broadly I’m really proud of the Labour Party’s candidates that we’re putting forward at this election from a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives… I hope on July 4 people can see a changed Labour Party from the one that went down to its worst defeat since 1935 in 2019, a party that has changed through Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, frankly in stark contrast to the clown show presided over by Rishi Sunak.”
9:09AM
Sunak on the sleeper train to Penzance overnight The Tory campaign heads to the south west.
We’re on the overnight sleeper to Penzance with the PM.
See you bright and early from 7 ☀️ pic.twitter.com/RGbOwQMfIa
— Rob Powell (@robpowellnews) May 28, 2024 9:00AM
Abbott treatment ‘a sorry reflection’ of Labour, says SNP leader Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, said Labour’s treatment of Diane Abbott was “a pretty sorry reflection” of the party.
Mr Flynn told Sky News: “I think this is a pretty sorry reflection of the Labour Party and where it stands, what its values are and what its principles are at the moment.
“Diane Abbott gets her membership back at the very last minute but isn’t allowed to stand. I’d just like to thank Diane for everything she has done, as a trailblazer for women in Parliament, but also as the first black female in Parliament.
“She’s a phenomenal individual and her legacy is going to be long lasting.”
8:57AM
Momentum: This is a dark day for Labour Momentum has said it is “sickened and disgusted” after Diane Abbott confirmed she had been blocked from standing as a Labour candidate.
A spokesman for the Left-wing campaign group said: “The way Keir Starmer has treated Britain’s first Black woman MP is appalling, vindictive and cruel.
“Starmer’s actions are a slap in the face not just to Diane, who he called a ‘trailblazer’ just weeks ago, but to the millions across Britain who have been inspired by her courageous leadership over decades in the face of discrimination and abuse.
“Any pretence that this decision had anything to do with due process or anti-racism is laughable, given both the breaches with proper process we have seen, and the blatant double-standards on show.
“It is a dark day for the Labour Party when Diane Abbott isn’t welcome as a Labour MP, but a hard-right Tory like Natalie Elphicke is. Starmer’s mistreatment of Diane will go down in the Labour hall of infamy.”
8:55AM
John McTernan: Labour should hang their heads in shame Senior Labour figures responsible for the handling of Diane Abbott’s case “should hang their head in shame”, Sir Tony Blair’s former director of political operations has said.
John McTernan told Times Radio last night: “It’s not for the Labour Party to ban a woman with Diane Abbott’s record to stand for the Labour Party if that’s what she wishes to do.
“This kind of briefing, it’s aimed at humiliating her and that is disgraceful. It’s just utterly disgraceful. It’s a process that’s been designed not to resolve issues… It’s a process designed just to drag things out and humiliate Diane Abbott.
“And whoever’s responsible for this should hang their head in shame. It looks like it’s crass, politically-motivated and designed to hurt her. It’s nothing more or less than kind of factional disdain.”
8:44AM
Why did Diane Abbott lose the Labour whip? Diane Abbott was stripped of the Labour whip in April 2023 after she suggested that Jewish people do not suffer racism “all their lives”.
Ms Abbott, who served as Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow home secretary, wrote in a letter to The Observer that although white people “with points of difference” encounter prejudice, they have not been subjected to the same racism as black people.
“It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice,” she wrote.
“But they are not all their lives subject to racism. In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus.”
Ms Abbott went on to apologise for her comments and said the letter had been a first draft.
8:41AM
Sunak: I would have opted for military national service Rishi Sunak has said he would have opted for military national service rather than volunteering had he been called upon to serve his country.
The Prime Minister made the comments after vowing to bring back national service for 18-year-olds in his first policy announcement of the general election campaign.
Asked on The Daily T podcast with Camilla Tominey and Kamal Ahmed whether he would have opted for a 12-month military placement or spending one weekend a month volunteering in his community under his mandatory scheme, Mr Sunak chose the former.
“If I had my time now, I would do the military one, and it’s actually one of my regrets that I didn’t do more of it when I was younger,” he said.
Danielle Sheridan and Neil Johnston have the story
8:34AM
Tories: Starmer has ‘serious questions to answer’ over Abbott The Conservatives have accused Labour of lying about an investigation into Diane Abbott.
Richard Holden, the Tory chairman, said in a statement: “On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer said that the investigation into Diane Abbott’s conduct was ongoing and ‘not resolved’.
“Now it has been confirmed the Labour investigation into Diane Abbott concluded five months ago and she has already been given a formal warning. It’s inconceivable that Starmer, the Labour leader, wasn’t told the process had finished and a warning issued.
“No ifs, no buts, this isn’t another flip-flop or yet another policy U-turn. Sir Keir Starmer has blatantly lied to the British people and has serious questions to answer.”
8:32AM
Sunak all smiles as he picks up breakfast for the press Rishi Sunak picked up breakfast for the media at a cafe in Cornwall Credit: Aaron Chown 8:27AM
‘The Labour Party has fundamentally changed’ Wes Streeting told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is a decision for the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee and Keir Starmer when he talked about improving standards in the Labour Party, he really meant it.
“Now I don’t know the specific factors that apply in Diane Abbott’s case. I was pleased actually yesterday that her suspension was lifted and the whip was restored and I know she apologised for what she said.”
He added: “It’s not a decision for me… The Labour Party has fundamentally changed since the party that was rejected in 2019. We stand ready to offer a real and serious alternative to the Conservatives.
“And I say this with enormous respect for Diane Abbott, and everything she has achieved in politics as a trailblazer and someone who despite our disagreements I have huge respect for. What is at stake on July 4 affects millions of people across our country.”
8:21AM
Streeting: 35 per cent pay rise won’t happen on July 5 Asked about his message to the junior doctors, Wes Streeting said: “Firstly on your 35 per cent pay claim, I want to show you the respect you’re deserved of being honest with you this side of the election, before you cast your votes, that that 35 per cent pay claim is not one that I would be able to meet on July 5.
“I’d be willing to sit down and negotiate because the route back towards fair pay is a journey not an event, so let’s work together on pay.”
On the prospect of striking now, Mr Streeting added: “I’ve also heard what junior doctors have said about a wide range of other issues, the rotations, the placements, the disrespect they’re shown… [The] basic disrespect and lack of care for your staff is not something I’m willing to tolerate.”
8:17AM
Labour questions whether Abbott is ‘right’ about being banned A Labour Party source questioned Diane Abbott’s remarks in which she said she had been banned from standing as a candidate for the party.
“(I’m) not quite sure that’s right, the NEC is due to finalise candidate endorsements on Tuesday”, the source told PA.
“I think this may be an attempt to bounce Loto (Leader of the Opposition’s Office) into some sort of deal.”
8:16AM
Labour will ‘think more radically’ about NHS Wes Streeting said Labour would “think more radically” in the NHS, saying Specsavers were “ready and willing” to help with scans and monitoring to free up health service capacity.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are thinking radically, we are thinking differently because the challenge we face today is greater than it was in 1997, but with respect to the 1997 generation, we’re better prepared.”
8:14AM
Streeting: Don’t hand the matches back to the arsonists Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, was asked how quickly he can act to reduce waiting lists.
“The risk of handing the matches back to the arsonists and giving the Conservatives another term risks seeing these waiting lists rise further,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“Based on Rishi Sunak’s record we could see waiting lists rise up to 10 million.”
Mr Streeting said Labour would create 40,000 new appointments a week and make expanded use of the private sector “because I’m not prepared to see working-class people left behind”.
8:01AM
‘Shameful numbers of patients are spending their final months stuck on waiting lists’ Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has said “shameful” numbers of patients are dying while on NHS waiting lists.
Around 148,000 people died in 2023 whilst waiting for care on the NHS, figures provided by trusts show amid a backdrop of record waiting times.
Mr Streeting said: “Under the Conservatives, shameful numbers of patients are spending their final months stuck on waiting lists, waiting for treatment that never comes.
“Rishi Sunak has no plan to turn the NHS around, so the longer the Conservatives are in charge, the longer patients will wait. If they have another five years, waiting lists will hit 10 million.
“Only Labour has a plan to get the NHS back on its feet, so it is there for us when we need it once again. Our first step will deliver 40,000 extra appointments at evenings and weekends, paid for by clamping down on tax dodgers and closing non-dom loopholes.”
7:58AM
Steve Baker: Blocking Abbott ‘a massive own goal for Labour’ Steve Baker, a minister of state at the Northern Ireland Office, said Labour’s decision to block Diane Abbott from running as one of its candidates represents a “massive own goal”.
The Wycombe MP wrote on X: “You don’t have to agree with Diane Abbott to know she is one of the biggest figures in the Labour Party: both the first black woman elected to parliament and the longest-serving black MP.
“In the year she was first elected, I turned 16. Seems a massive own goal for Labour.”
7:46AM
First TV debate set for June 4 The first head-to-head election debate between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will take place on Tuesday, The Telegraph understands.
ITV is set to host the first televised event with both major political party leaders on June 4 – exactly one month before the general election takes place.
7:45AM
Diane Abbott: ‘I am banned from standing’ Ms Abbott told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Although the whip has been restored, I am banned from standing as a Labour candidate.”
7:42AM
Breaking: Diane Abbott prevented from standing as Labour candidate Diane Abbott has confirmed she has been barred from standing for Labour.
Ms Abbott was given back the Labour whip on Tuesday, with Labour sources telling The Telegraph that senior figures in the party were trying to reach a “soft landing” for the MP whereby she can “go with grace”.
Diane Abbott in Trafalgar Square at a pro-Palestinian protest Credit: Phil Lewis/SOPA Images But the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington confirmed to The Telegraph she has been blocked by the party from standing at the general election.
7:27AM
Damian Hinds: Rishi Sunak is a man with a plan Told by Sky’s Kay Burley that Reform was the new Conservatives, Damian Hinds replied: “Does he now? I would say the Conservatives are the new Conservatives.
“I would say in this election it is us that’s got the fresh new ideas, it’s Rishi Sunak setting out a bold plan. You haven’t really heard anything from Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour crew, they’re just saying the same things over and over again.
“There is a real choice. The choice is between Labour and the Conservatives, it’s between Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak. We do wanna talk about that, the Prime Minister wants to be debating Keir Starmer every week. And that is the choice that people face. People will see Rishi Sunak a man with a plan and Sir Keir Starmer is without a plan.”
Mr Hinds declined to apologise to Angela Rayner, who has been cleared by Greater Manchester Police (GMP), and said it could have been “cleared up a great deal earlier” had Ms Rayner published her tax advice.
7:25AM
School standards minister: Not fair to name and shame current sub-par courses Challenged on apprenticeship starts falling from 131,400 to 77,000, Damian Hinds insisted ministers had “really raised the bar” on the qualifications by making sure there was a minimum length of apprenticeship and ensuring higher standards designed by employers.
Mr Hinds told Sky News it would “not be fair” to current undergraduates to name and shame courses that were not up to standard, and confirmed university courses would not be shut down while they were active.
Asked whether more international students would be allowed in, he replied: “We’ve been really clear all the way through, we want the brightest and the best to be able to come to our universities. We have some of the, objectively speaking, best universities in the world and they’ve got a great offer. And we want the brightest and the best around the world to benefit from that. We also want to guard against any abuses of that that come to light.”
7:18AM
Minister: I’m not using the phrase ‘Mickey Mouse degrees’ Damian Hinds, the school standards minister, is on the broadcast round for the Government this morning.
Asked about the Government’s crackdown on “Mickey Mouse degrees”, he told Sky News: “Well, that’s not phraseology you’ve heard coming from us. We want to make sure that every young person has access to the very best opportunities. It’s a really important time in people’s lives, you never get that time back, and we want to make sure that for that time…
“But also when people are making investments in themselves, we want to make sure that that is time and money well spent and make sure that every course young people go on is high quality. We want to make sure the quality is really high.”
7:14AM
Rachel Reeves rules out further tax rises if Labour wins power Rachel Reeves, the Labour shadow chancellor, ruled out any new tax rises if Labour wins power and promised never to “play fast and loose” with the country’s finances.
At her first event of the election campaign at the Rolls-Royce plant in Derby on Tuesday, she was asked whether Labour would need to put up any taxes to ease pressure on public services.
She said: “There are no additional tax rises needed beyond the ones that I’ve said.”
Tax increases already announced by Labour include extending the windfall tax on energy companies’ profits, imposing VAT on private school fees and ensuring that private equity bonuses are “taxed appropriately”.
Camilla Turner has the full story here
7:02AM
SNP sets out hung parliament demands Stephen Flynn, the leader of the SNP at Westminster, has set out the SNP’s demands in the event of a hung parliament.
“As we all know when it comes to tuition fees, when it comes to the benefit cap, when it comes to the cap on bankers’ bonuses, Keir Starmer’s been quite happy to change his position.
“But when it comes to the cost-of-living crisis, when it comes to the economy, when it comes to public services, we cannot allow the current consensus in Westminster to continue.”
Asked how powerful the SNP would expect to be in the event of a hung parliament, Mr Flynn said: “I don’t think anyone would win any prizes for guessing what the SNP would ask for. We’d ask for immediate support for people dealing with the cost-of-living crisis.”
He added: “We would want to have that economic growth and that can only come from looking at the single market, looking at freedom of movement and doubling down on net zero investment. And, perhaps most importantly for 50 per cent of the Scottish population, we would demand the right for a referendum to be devolved to Holyrood so the people of Scotland can determine their own independent future.”
6:58AM
Universities UK: Sunak’s degree crackdown ‘a bit frustrating’ Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK, said it was “wrong to be narrowly and obsessively focused on earnings on their own” after Rishi Sunak vowed to close down “Mickey Mouse” degrees.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s a bit frustrating. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Rishi Sunak say anything nice about higher education.
“The Conservative Party as part of this election move have quoted a whole bunch of data I think is misleading. We’ve just done a study that looks at what happens to graduates over 15 years and the evidence is entirely clear that graduates earn significantly more than non-graduates, that their growth in earnings is higher than that of non-graduates.
“When the Prime Minister stands up and says it’s not worth going to university and slams ‘poor-quality degrees’, there’s a whole bunch of people who don’t believe that’s true. Quality absolutely matters, I’m a parent who I hope will go to university and it absolutely matters that universities uphold standards and look after their students well.”
6:47AM
Cleared by police, Rayner mocks Tory deputy Angela Rayner tagged Conservative Party deputy chairman James Daly in a social media post about police saying they would take no further action in their investigation into her.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had investigated whether Ms Rayner wrongly declared her permanent address on the electoral roll, which is a criminal offence.
A GMP spokesman said the force was taking no further action, but that matters involving council tax and personal tax did not fall under its jurisdiction and it had shared information from its six-week investigation with HMRC and Stockport council.
Sharing the front page of today’s Daily Mirror, which bears the headline ‘Tory nonsense exposed: Cops drop Rayner probe’, Ms Rayner also mentioned Mr Daly, who had complained directly to GMP.
6:44AM
Iain Dale quits radio to run for Parliament LBC presenter Iain Dale has quit radio for the “foreseeable future” to run as a Conservative Party candidate at the general election.
“If you’ve listened for any length of time you’ll know that I’ve always had two ambitions in life, one was to be a radio presenter and the other was to be an MP. Last time I tried the electorate fought back in quite a major way, it has to be said, but now I’m putting my hat in the ring again to be a candidate at the general election.
An emotional farewell from @IainDale as he announces on air that he is leaving LBC, for now, to stand for a seat in the General Election.
Great fun to have around and a master at what you do – best of luck, Iain.
— Fraser Knight (@Fraser_Knight) May 28, 2024 “Whatever the result, I feel I can play a role in restoring trust and honesty in politics. There are no guarantees I will even be selected, let alone elected, but I know that I would forever kick myself I didn’t at least have a go.”
Mr Dale ran at the 2005 general election in North Norfolk, winning 35 per cent of the vote but failing to unseat Liberal Democrat incumbent Norman Lamb.
6:39AM
Exclusive: Sunak reveals he has talked to Boris Johnson about ‘risk’ of Starmer Rishi Sunak has revealed that he recently talked to Boris Johnson about the “risk” that Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, poses to the country.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily T podcast, the Prime Minister said the pair were “literally in touch the other day”, but declined to say whether Mr Johnson would campaign for him.
He also said he was a Thatcherite, warned that the current level of immigration was “unsustainable” and defended his new national service policy. Watch his comments below:
6:31AM
Tories fall to 27 points behind Labour – YouGov The Conservatives now trail Labour by 27 points, a YouGov poll for Sky News shows.
There was a glimmer of hope for the Tories yesterday as a JL Partners survey showed a gap of just 12 points.
But two other polls released on the same day showed Sir Keir Starmer’s party with a lead of 23 points and the new YouGov poll has Labour on 47 per cent to the Conservatives’ 20 per cent.
Reform is polling at 12 per cent, the Lib Dems nine per cent and the Greens seven per cent.
In a further blow for Rishi Sunak, the poll suggests only 36 per cent of 2019 Tory voters intend to stick with the party. Nineteen per cent plan to back Reform UK, the same amount do not know how they will vote and 14 per cent intend to switch to Labour..
6:24AM
Starmer facing backlash over Abbott treatment Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash over his treatment of Diane Abbott as he was accused of ‘West Wing’ politics.
Ms Abbott was given back the Labour whip on Tuesday, with Labour sources telling The Telegraph that senior figures in the party were trying to reach a “soft landing” for the MP whereby she can “go with grace”.
But it has been reported she will not be allowed to stand at the next general election following her suspension from the party last year after suggesting that Jewish people did not experience racism “all their lives”, remarks she subsequently apologised for.
Dawn Butler, a senior Labour MP, told Newsnight: “Fundamentally, Diane was the first elected black female MP in our country and that’s something to be proud of. I think it’s important that the whip was returned to Diane, she went through the process…
“Keir said this in his last speech to the parliamentary party, the Labour Party is a team and has to act as a team. And I do feel there are some people around Keir, not Keir himself, that maybe have watched a bit too much of Scandal or The West Wing and think that’s how politics is done. That isn’t how politics is done.”
Camilla Turner has more on this story here
6:22AM
Good morning Dominic Penna here, The Telegraph’s Political Correspondent, guiding you through day seven of the 2024 general election campaign with my colleague Geneveive Holl-Allen.