Diane Abbott has been treated abysmally

Diane Abbott should be allowed to stand as a Labour MP at this election. It is a relief that she has belatedly had the Labour whip returned to her after a ridiculously long ‘process’ involving the Labour party and the whips’ office. But to be reinstated the day before parliament is dissolved is an insult. To make things worse, she has been told that she will be banned from standing as a candidate on 4 July – although Keir Starmer has said it is ‘not true’ she is barred from running.

There are many problems with the Labour party’s approach here.

Firstly, the delay in dealing with her case is entirely down to the Labour party. It is clear that Diane was waiting to get the whip restored to her and then, after a sensible pause, planned to announce that she would be standing down at the next general election. By only dealing with this now, it seems like the party is punishing Diane for its own incompetence.