Will Diane Abbott have the Labour whip restored to her to enable her to run as a Labour candidate in the Hackney seat she has held for the last 37 years? Keir Starmer has always insisted it is not a matter for him – she is subject to a wholly independent disciplinary process.

But today Newsnight presenter Victoria Derbyshire made a mockery of that claim. She tweeted: “I can reveal Labour’s investigation into suspended MP Diane Abbott’s racism comments finished five months ago.”

According to Derbyshire’s, source, the MP was given a “formal warning” in December 2023. She was required to do an online “antisemitism course” – which she did in February this year.

Yet the source says she still hasn’t  been told if she can stand as a Labour candidate at the upcoming election. Derbyshire says she understands Diane Abbott is “angry, depressed and worn out” by the way she feels she’s been treated by Labour. Who can blame her?

This new revelation is of the highest significance. If the internal disciplinary process concluded with Diane Abbott meeting the conditions she was set and thus remaining a Labour member,  responsibility would then be passed back to the Chief Whip who is appointed by and reports directly to Starmer.

If the Chief Whip has then dragged his heels, that is a breach of the requirement under the Parliamentary Labour Party  standing orders that investigations must be completed within three months.

If the matter is therefore in the hands of thee Chief Whip and Keir Starmer, then the latter has arguably not been entirely honest when he maintained it’s an independent process – the NEC investigation finished five months ago, and it has been in the leadership’s hands ever since.

Worse, while Diane Abbott was facing racist and sexist abuse from Frank Hester, Starmer made a show of support – yet all the while, the leadership was conspiring against her.

A Momentum spokesperson said:  “This is outrageous news which confirms that the Starmer leadership is trying to force Britain’s first Black woman MP out of Parliament. For months we have been told by Keir Starmer that the process is independent and it’s nothing to do with him. Today’s revelation confirms this is another brazen lie from Keir Starmer – the investigation was concluded months ago, Diane remains a Labour member and the whip should already have been restored as a result. Starmer’s conduct has already been insulting and demeaning to a woman he rightly called a ‘trailblazer’. The first step to making amends is to restore the whip and let Diane run as the Labour candidate, as local members wish.”

Labour Women Leading said: “This situation is insulting to both  Diane Abbott  and the membership of Hackney North CLP.  The disciplinary procedures should not be used in a factional way.”

Labour’s Former Executive Director of Policy and  Research Andrew Fisher said: “The treatment of Diane Abbott – Britain’s first black woman MP – has been nothing short of disgraceful.”

A grassroots petition calling on Keir Starmer to restore the Parliamentary Labour Party whip to Diane Abbott has been signed by over 15,000  people. The petition can be signed here.

Before her suspension, all Hackney North and Stoke Newington Labour Party branches had voted overwhelmingly for Diane Abbott to remain their candidate. She won re-election on eight occasions since she first stood for office since becoming the first Black woman MPs in British history in 1987.