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Labour’s grand mishandling of the Diane Abbott row

Will this clumsy stage management backfire?


Today Labour announced some bold plans for the NHS, stating that they would clear the Tory backlog in their first time. However this has been completely overshadowed by the mishandling of Diane Abbott’s position in the party.

This morning, Abbott, who has served as Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since being elected in 1987, announced that she has been barred by the party from standing in the next general election. By lunchtime Starmer was saying that no decision had been taken to block her from standing for Labour. So what’s going on and will this botched stage handling backfire for Labour?

Hannah Barnes, associate editor at the New Statesman, is joined by Freddie Hayward, political correspondent, and Rachel Cunliffe, associate political editor.

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