Fiona Bruce hits out at Labour 'double standards' in Diane Abbott row on BBC Question Time

Fiona Bruce quizzed Lisa Nandy over Diane Abbott's continued suspension (Image: BBC / Getty)

Tonight BBC Question Time presenter Fiona Bruce quizzed Labour shadow frontbencher Lisa Nandy over Diane Abbott's continued absence from the Labour Party.

The row over Ms Abbott's suspension comes after former Tory MP Natalie Elphicke crossed the floor to join Sir Keir Starmer's party on Wednesday. The MP for Dover was forced to apologise for backing her ex-husband, who was convicted of sexually assaulting two women, after her new Labour colleagues expressed criticism.

Ms Abbott, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, was suspended from Labour pending the result of an investigation, after she wrote a letter claiming that Jewish people did not experience the same racism as other minorities. She later apologised.

Now, those who back Ms Abbott are demanding that she be reinstated as a member of the party, in the wake of Ms Elphicke's defection.

Lisa Nandy staunchly defended Labour's independent investigation process (Image: BBC)

The Question Time host asked the Shadow Secretary for International Development asked about Ms Abbott's continued suspension.

She said: "In terms of the question about Diane Abbott. Diane Abbott, you know, [is a] trailblazer for the Labour Party - longest-serving black woman MP."

Ms Bruce asked why it's taken a year for Ms Abbott's investigation to take place, still without an outcome: "How can that still be going on and she’s not admitted back into the Labour Party, when Natalie Elphicke’s admitted in and then she apologises?"

The BBC veteran finished: "So does that not appear to be a double standard?"

Responding, Ms Nandy said: "You’ve got to remember why we’ve got an independent disciplinary process. This is not the same as joining a party. This is about a disciplinary process.

"Under our previous leader, he and his cheerleaders brought the Labour Party to the most shameful time in our history, where the Equality and Human Rights Commission opened an investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party and found that we had become an antisemitic party.

"I have nothing to do with the investigation into Diane but I very much hope it’s been resolved quickly."