Keir Starmer confirms that Diane Abbott is "free to go forward as a Labour candidate" Keir Starmer has said that veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott is “free to go forward as a Labour candidate” after days of speculation fuelled by media briefing that the party was forcing her to step down. On Wednesday Abbott promised to stay on as an MP for “as long as it is possible”, having issued a statement to broadcasters confirming she had been handed back the Labour whip after a months-long investigation into her conduct, but would not be allowed to stand again as a Labour candidate. Since then Starmer had repeatedly said a decision had not been made, while he also appeared not to actively endorse Abbott standing again. The Labour leader on Friday told reporters: “The whip has obviously been restored to her now and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate.” Martin Forde KC, previously appointed by Starmer to investigate allegations of sexism, racism and bullying in the party, told the Guardian that there continued to be a perception that complaints against some Labour figures were treated more seriously than others. “There is still very much a feeling that if you step out of line as a black MP or councillor you get the book thrown at you,” he said. “If you do so as a right-leaning supporter of the current leader, you’ll be treated more leniently. Abbott criticised the party this week for what she said was a “leftwing cull” after Faiza Shaheen, who had been Labour’s candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green, and Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who had been the MP for Brighton Kemptown since 2017, were prevented from standing. Summary of the day … Diane Abbott is “free to stand” as a Labour candidate in the general election, Keir Starmer has said. The news comes three days after it was revealed that the Labour party had concluded an investigation in December into controversial remarks Abbott had made, and that she had completed the required antisemitism training in February, but the party had not decided whether or not to readmit her. Starmer admitted he used a private jet to travel to a campaign rally in Scotland where he promised to create “tens of thousands” of clean energy jobs with a new publicly owned energy company in the country. Prime minister Rishi Sunak has dismissed Labour’s Great British energy plan as being just a “logo”, saying it will not deliver the energy security that the country needs. The Liberal Democrats would extend free school meals to all primary schoolchildren in England, starting with those in poverty, Ed Davey has said in a challenge to Labour to match the pledge. John Swinney has called on the next UK government to hold an emergency budget after the election, and said he was proud his own SNP administration had taken “deep and hard decisions on tax”. The decision not to include the Scottish Greens in an STV debate next week has been criticised by MSP Ross Greer as “outrageous”. The programme on Mondaywill feature the leaders of the SNP, Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats in Scotland. The party does not hold any Scottish seats at Westminster, but is the fourth biggest party at Holyrood. New opinion polling from Savanta in Scotland shows Labour maintaining a narrow lead in Westminster voting intention, with support on 37% ahead of the SNP’s 34%. ITV has announced a further national multi-party election television debate. Moderated by Julie Etchingham, the network says “leaders or senior representatives” from the Tories, Labour, SNP, Lib Dems, Green, Plaid Cymru and Reform UK parties will appear at 8.30pm on Thursday 13 June. Former Tory MP Julian Knight has announced that he will stand as an independent in the general election. Knight was the Conservative MP for Solihull from 2015 to 2022, but lost the party whip in December 2022 after it was revealed he was being investigated by police over sexual assault allegations. Police dropped the investigation in March 2023. Former Conservative MP Aaron Bell, who represented Newcastle-under-Lyme, has announced “with a very heavy heart” that he will not be standing at the general election. 135 people who were MPs in the 2019-2024 parliament are not standing in the general election, including 79 former Conservative MPs. Conservatives in Wales launched their campaign, with Andrew RT Davies, opposition leader in the Senedd, saying the way Labour had run Wales was a warning to the rest of the UK. Workers at steel giant Tata are to ban overtime as part of industrial action in protest at job losses. More than 600 households in Surrey have been told not to drink their tap water after tests carried out by Thames Water. The radio presenter Iain Dale has withdrawn his bid to be the Conservative candidate for Tunbridge Wells after he was found to have said he did not like the town. Thank you for reading and all your comments today. It is the weekend tomorrow, but there is a general election campaign going on, so I will see you here again bright and early on Saturday morning. Take care and have a good evening. When PA posted its story about Rishi Sunak visiting a farm earlier, it said “one of the lambs was initially distracted by nearby photographers and nibbled on a press camera” and I was disappointed there was no photographic evidence to accompany it. But the prime minister clearly kept the receipts. Scottish Greens call exclusion from STV leaders debate "outrageous" The decision not to include the Scottish Greens in an STV debate next week has been criticised by MSP Ross Greer as “outrageous”. The programme is scheduled for 9pm on Monday 3 June, and will feature the leaders of the SNP, Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats in Scotland in a debate chaired by STV’s political editor Colin Mackay. PA Media reports Greer said “It is outrageous that a national broadcaster has excluded us from their leaders’ debate despite the Scottish Greens having been one of the five major parties in this country for more than 20 years.” The party does not hold any Scottish seats at Westminster, but is the fourth biggest party at Holyrood. Here are some more pictures from today’s election campaigning … Jessica Murray brings this report from Birmingham Ladywood constituency, which is among the most deprived constituencies in England and Wales. Rishi Sunak has been out campaigning on a farm, where he fed some lambs. The prime minister was there with local Tory candidate, David Rutley. Ed Davey has taken a different tack with his photo opportunity today, with the Liberal Democrat leader taking the time to do some baking lessons with primary schoolchildren. It is in support of their policy to extend free school meals to all primary schoolchildren in England. Here are the full quotes this afternoon from Labour leader Keir Starmer to broadcasters about Diane Abbott. He said: Diane was elected in 1987. The first black woman MP. She has been a trailblazer. She has carved a path for other people to come into politics and public life. The whip has obviously been restored to her now, and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate. He was then asked “Have you spoken to Diane, and do you understand that she wants to put herself forward to stand?” Starmer replied: She’s free to go forward as a Labour candidate. The whip is back with her. It’s been restored. And of course you know she was a trailblazer for many, many years and has been a path for others to come into politics. So, formally a matter for the NEC, I’ve not expressed a view up until now. She’s free to go forward as a Labour candidate. Supporters of Faiza Shaheen have announced a rally in support of her candidacy at the general election in the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency. Labour has announced Shama Tatler as its candidate for the seat that has been held by Iain Duncan Smith since it was formed in 1997. Shaheen has said she will challenge the decision in the courts, claiming she has faced “a systematic campaign of racism, Islamophobia and bullying”. She said she was given five and a half hours’ notice of an NEC panel meeting on Tuesday to discuss her social media activity, and was informed by email on Wednesday evening that she had been blocked from standing as a Labour candidate. In a statement, the organisers said: “We are appalled by the treatment of Faiza Shaheen, who was democratically selected to represent our community. We call for her immediate reinstatement as the Labour party candidate and the right to vote for her to be our local MP.” Keir Starmer confirms that Diane Abbott is "free to go forward as a Labour candidate" Keir Starmer has said that veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott is “free to go forward as a Labour candidate” after days of speculation fuelled by media briefing that the party was forcing her to step down. On Wednesday Abbott promised to stay on as an MP for “as long as it is possible”, having issued a statement to broadcasters confirming she had been handed back the Labour whip after a months-long investigation into her conduct, but would not be allowed to stand again as a Labour candidate. Since then Starmer had repeatedly said a decision had not been made, while he also appeared not to actively endorse Abbott standing again. The Labour leader on Friday told reporters: “The whip has obviously been restored to her now and she is free to go forward as a Labour candidate.” Martin Forde KC, previously appointed by Starmer to investigate allegations of sexism, racism and bullying in the party, told the Guardian that there continued to be a perception that complaints against some Labour figures were treated more seriously than others. “There is still very much a feeling that if you step out of line as a black MP or councillor you get the book thrown at you,” he said. “If you do so as a right-leaning supporter of the current leader, you’ll be treated more leniently. Abbott criticised the party this week for what she said was a “leftwing cull” after Faiza Shaheen, who had been Labour’s candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green, and Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who had been the MP for Brighton Kemptown since 2017, were prevented from standing. Abbott free to stand as a Labour candidate, says Starmer PA has a quick snap: Diane Abbott is “free” to stand as a Labour candidate in the general election, Keir Starmer has said. More details soon … PA have updated their count of the number of MPs standing down at the next election, after Aaron Bell said he would not stand, and Julian Knight announced he would be standing as an independent. It records that 135 people who were MPs in the 2019-2024 parliament are not standing in the general election. It includes 79 former Conservative MPs, which is the highest number in modern political history, surpassing the previous postwar record of 72 Tories who stood down ahead of the 1997 election. 33 Labour MPs are known to be standing down – although this figure includes Natalie Elphicke and Dan Poulter, who both defected to the party in recent weeks. Nine whipless independent MPs are standing down, Caroline Lucas is standing down for the Greens, and Hywel Williams is standing down for Plaid Cymru. The SNP has nine MPs stepping down, and Sinn Féin has three. Plaid Cymru have immediately responded to the news that ITV have invited “leaders or senior representatives” by challenging Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to accept the invitation, and debate their leader Rhun ap Iorwerth directly on the programme. The debate will be broadcast at 8.30pm on Thursday 13 June. Sunak and Starmer will participate in a head-to-head debate on Tuesday 4 June at 9pm. In a social media message the Welsh party said “Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth will be shouting for Wales on 13 June. We’ve called on Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak to respect Welsh voters – debate us directly. No substitutes!” Former Tory MP Julian Knight has announced that he will stand as an independent in the general election. Knight was the Conservative MP for Solihull from 2015 to 2022, but lost the party whip in December 2022 after it was revealed he was being investigated by police over sexual assault allegations. Police dropped the investigation in March 2023. At the time Knight criticised the whips’ office, accusing it of a “desperate attempt to cover up the identities and motives of those in parliament who colluded for many months to bring the false allegation against me to the police”. Knight, who had always denied the claims, posted to social media today: After discussions with family, Conservative members and constituents I have decided to run as an independent in the forthcoming election. Solihull deserves more than a whips appointed candidate who doesn’t get the issues. It is important that having been forced out of the party after an entirely false allegation, which is now being investigated by police for perversion of the course of justice, it is important to make a stand. People should not lose their position because of a false allegation.