Labour Party readsmits Diane Abbott and Joani Reid

The Labour Party has reinstated veteran lawmaker Diane Abbott and fellow MP Joani Reid, ending separate suspensions that had seen both women sitting as independents. The party confirmed the readmissions on July 30, 2026, following independent internal processes.

Abbott, Britain's first Black woman MP and the longest-serving female lawmaker, had her membership and the party whip restored after a year-long suspension. She was suspended for a second time in July 2025 after stating in a BBC Radio interview that she did not regret controversial remarks on racism made in 2023. In that earlier incident, she had written a letter suggesting Jewish, Irish, and Traveller people experience prejudice but not racism, a comment for which she later apologized and which led to her initial suspension.

In a statement posted on social media confirming her return, Abbott said she had been issued a formal warning for a separate tweet in which she referred to the Israel Defense Forces as the "Jewish Defence Force." She apologized for that post, acknowledging she had used wording that "conflates the actions of the state of Israel with the Jewish community" and expressed she was "deeply sorry for any...