Angela Rayner says she would “like to see” Diane Abbott back in the parliamentary Labour Party following the row over comments a Tory donor allegedly made about her.
Labour’s deputy leader said she shared the “frustration” at how long the party’s processes could take but they must be followed when complaints are lodged against an individual.
Ms Abbott, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, currently sits in the Commons as an independent after she had the whip withdrawn following remarks she made in the Observer last year.
In the article, she claimed Jewish, Irish and Traveller people do not experience racism in the same way as black people.
She remains suspended from the parliamentary Labour Party but calls for her to have the whip reinstated have grown since the race row erupted this week.
Frank Hester, a donor to the Tory party, allegedly said Ms Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and “should be shot”.
Reinstating the whip would allow Ms Abbott to sit as a Labour MP.
Speaking to reporters at a lunch in parliament, Ms Rayner said: “Personally, I would like to see Diane back but the Labour Party has to follow its procedures.
“And for me, that is the most important thing, that we have made sure our party is fit to govern by making sure we have got complaint procedures that are robust and people can have confidence in.
Politics latest: Calls for Abbott to have Labour suspension lifted
“So it doesn’t matter what I think because I don’t make that decision because it is done through a panel, it has gone through experts, and I’m not involved in that process.”
Ms Rayner also highlighted the “awful” abuse Ms Abbott has received throughout her career and that she hoped she contests the next general election.
“The abuse I get is nothing, it’s a fraction of what Diane Abbott got at that time,” she said.
“There’s been a focus on this for the last two days now. I hope things do change, so that Diane… if she does stand at the next election – which I hope she does – but if she doesn’t, I hope her legacy is that nobody has to go through what Diane has had to go through.”
Ms Abbott criticised the Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, on Wednesday for failing to invite her to speak in a debate during Prime Minister’s Questions that was dominated by Mr Hester’s alleged remarks and concerns for her safety.
Shortly after PMQs had ended, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was seen speaking to Ms Abbott. She later retweeted a claim that in the conversation she had asked for the whip to be restored.
Labour MP Jess Phillips joined Ms Rayner in calling for the whip to be restored to Ms Abbott.
She told Sky News political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast: “You would want to see the first black woman elected to parliament, whether you like her politics or not, you would want to see it be celebrated in the same way the Harriet Harman is going to get as she steps down. These women are trailblazers.
“And for it to end in this sort of sticky horror where everybody’s fighting just seems a real shame. So I would much prefer to see Diane Abbott have the whip restored.”
Meanwhile, in light of the row involving Mr Hester, Ms Rayner also said major Labour donor Dale Vince should “reflect” on his “appalling” comments about Hamas.
Last year Mr Vince said in an interview with Times Radio that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” when asked about the Palestinian militant group that carried out the October 7 attacks in Israel.
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Mr Vince has since said during the same interview he agreed with Labour’s position that Hamas are a terror group and that Israel had the right to defend itself.
