With Labour apparently on the threshold of a great victory, you would think Labour MPs would be keen to be part of the action. Yet in the last two days, six Labour MPs have announced they are standing down.

In contrast, in the 507 days between 6 September 2022 and 25 January 2024, just two Labour MPs announced their retirements. What’s going on?

It’s now clear that MPs planning not to stand again were asked by the Party apparatus to hold back their announcements. Why? So that the leadership could impose candidates in these seats, rather than allow a democratic member-led selection process to proceed.

A member of Gateshead CLP complained recently: “Ian Mearns announced before Xmas he was retiring, but the national party delayed taking any steps to start a selection.  Now a candidate will be imposed from above with no input at all from local members. It’s disgraceful.”

The shameful treatment of Diane Abbott

Stitching up parliamentary selections takes many forms. Labour Hub has reported previously on the scandal surrounding the Anonyvoter system. Removing the whip from MPs pending long investigations is another ruse. The investigation into Hackney MP Diane Abbott ended months ago but the parliamentary whip was still withheld. Others, on the right of the Party,  who have done far worse things have not been subject to such treatment.

Kim Johnson, Chair of the BAME group of the Parliamentary Labour Party is the latest MP to express solidarity with Diane Abbott, whom she described as a ”trailblazer and a hero of our movement.”

She added: “At a time when all our energy should be focused on throwing the Tories out, this process looks nakedly factional. Diane should have the whip restored now so she can stand as Labour’s candidate in the General election.”

NEC member Jess Barnard tweeted: “What a farce. So for five months, Starmer has been sitting on Diane’s resolved case, running the clock down apparently with one aim – to push her out. Another case of political interference. What happened to that independent processes called for by the EHRC?”

Richard Sudan in the Voice newspaper opined: “If Labour can do this to Diane Abbott, a prominent figure and long-time advocate for equality, it raises questions about their view of black women generally, especially considering the marginalization that black women already face.

“Abbott’s treatment is a glaring example of Labour’s handling of Black voices and racial controversies. This not only affects the trust of Black voters but highlights concerns about Labour’s integrity and its genuine commitment to racial equality.”

The latest twists

Last night it was reported that Diane Abbott had  now had the whip restored. On that basis, there should have been no impediment to her candidacy. But Party officials were briefing the media that they were not having it, that the Hackney MP was too associated with the ‘years of failure’ under Jeremy Cobyn, conveniently forgetting the huge Labour vote in 2017 that took away the Tories’ majority.

This morning, Diane Abbott texted a BBC reporter to say she had been barred from standing for the Party at the general election.  The Independentreported that Starmer is now facing a “backlash over his treatment of her with one of her friends Jacqueline McKenzie demanding to know whether the Labour leader has been dishonest.” It added that former Tony Blair aide John McTernan claimed the process was “designed to humiliate her”.

A Momentum spokesperson said: “We are sickened and disgusted by this news – 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.”

It’s being reported that voters, especially from the Black community, are emailing Labour candidates across the UK, withdrawing their vote if Diane Abbott doesn’t get to stand.

Six national unions have called on the leadership to allow Diane Abbott to stand. ASLEF, whose General Secretary Mick Whelan is also Chair of the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation, joins Unite, the NUM,  the CWU, the FBU and TSSA in the demand.

The way Diane Abbott’s situation has been handled is “utterly shambolic” and “deeply disturbing”, said Martin Forde KC, author of the Forde report into racism in the Labour Party.

Beth Winter MP tweeted: “I am glad Diane Abbott has finally had the Labour Whip restored.  The way she has been treated is vindictive, factional and cruel. She should be allowed to decide whether she will re-stand as a candidate.”

There is a clear double standard in the treatment of Diane Abbott. As a recent twitter thread by Momentum’s head of Communications pointed out, candidates from the right wing of the Party have been treated with far more leniency.

By late morning of May 29^th, Keir Starmer himself was saying – despite an earlier briefing from his office to the contrary – that Diane Abbott had not been blocked from standing. But can he be trusted? Or will a supportive National Executive Committee be privately persuaded to block her?

With the issue dominating the new bulletins, the leadership is clearly feeling the pressure. This is good and we must keep it up! A demonstration has been called this evening in Hackney to support the MP.