Diane Abbott has been readmitted to the Labour Party and had the Labour whip restored after an internal disciplinary process lasting around a year. The decision returns the veteran MP to Labour’s parliamentary ranks and follows her apology over a separate social-media post.

Abbott was suspended in July last year after repeating comments about racism for which she had previously apologised. She received a formal warning over calling the Israel Defence Force the “Jewish Defence Force”, saying the wording wrongly conflated Israel’s actions with the Jewish community; Labour said the independent review board approved her readmission. Fellow Labour MP Joani Reid was also readmitted after voluntarily suspending herself in March following her husband’s arrest on suspicion of spying for China.