Diane Abbott has vowed to remain an MP “as long as possible” as she accused the Labour Party of wanting her to be “excluded from parliament”.
The veteran left-winger is at the centre of a row over whether she will be allowed to stand as Labour’s candidate in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, the area she has represented since 1987.
Abbott was suspended by the party in April last year over a letter she sent to The Observer suggesting that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”.
She was finally given back the Labour whip yesterday, but senior party sources said she would not stand for the party in the general election on July 4.
However, Keir Starmer said today that no final decision had been taken on whether she would be a Labour candidate.
At a rally outside Hackney Town Hall tonight, Abbott said: “I was shocked to learn yesterday that I am going to be banned from running for the Labour Party.
“I have been selected by my local party members, many of whom are here today, but the national party is insisting that I be banned.”
She said Labour “just want me excluded from parliament” and added: “It is as if you are not allowed to be a Labour MP unless you are prepared to repeat everything the leader says.”
The 70-year-old told her supporters: “You have always stood with me, in good times and bad, and I will always stand with you. I am not going to allow myself to be intimated or frightened by forces beyond all of our control.
“I am going to be your MP as long as I am allowed to.”
She went on: “I have to keep faith with my principles. I have to keep faith with supporting and speaking up for equalities, poor people, for the community here in Hackney.
“So I promise you that as long as is possible I will be the member of parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.”