25 May 2024 , 09:24
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Angela Rayner says she wants the suspension of veteran MP Diane Abbott "resolved" - because she doesn't think her career "should end that way".
With the final deadline for candidate selections just days away, Ms Rayner said she wanted to see a "resolution" to veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott's suspension from the party.
Ms Abbott had been accused of anti-semitism over comments she made in a letter she sent to a newspaper, and for which she has since apologised. If she remains suspended, Ms Abbott won't be allowed to stand in the election. Leader Keir Starmer said yesterday the decision would be reached before the June 4 deadline.
Angela Rayner spoke to the Mirror yesterday after the party's campaign launch in Wales (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)“ Diane Abbott was our first black female MP for Labour and she's been in our party for decades,” she said. “I would like to see a resolution, because I don't think Diane Abbott's career should end in that way. We've had our ding-dongs between us, but there's no question to me of her advocacy and her passion to make lives better.
"I think it'd be really regrettable if her career ends without this being resolved. That's not something I'm in control of, I don’t have the full detail. There's a full investigation and I'm not a part of that. I don't get involved in complaints. But I would hope to see her career in a better place. I don't want her career to end under those circumstances.”
Yesterday Mr Starmer told the BBC : “It’s not a question of what I want... the days when the leader of the Labour Party rolls up his or her sleeves and gets involved in disciplinary cases are well and truly over.”
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He added: “That’s what Jeremy Corbyn did and it ended very badly.”
But a tweet posted on her account read: "Just heard Keir Starmer claiming that the decision about whether to let Diane Abbott back into the Labour Party has “nothing to with him.”
"It has EVERYTHING to do with him."