Andy McDonald has had the Labour whip reinstated after a “lengthy” investigation over comments he made at a pro-Palestine rally last year.
The senior Labour MP, who represents Middlesbrough, was placed on precautionary suspension in October after the party said he had made “deeply offensive comments”.
McDonald had told the pro-Palestine rally: “We won’t rest until we have justice. Until all people, Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea, can live in peaceful liberty.”
He faced disciplinary action hours after Downing Street said the chant “from the river to the sea” was “deeply offensive” to many. Labour denied being pushed to take the action because of No 10’s remarks.
The decision over McDonald’s readmission was confirmed by Labour’s chief whip, Alan Campbell.
Under Labour’s disciplinary process, a precautionary suspension would normally mean an MP is suspended for three months. It is not clear why McDonald’s investigation lasted more than four months.
A Labour party spokesperson said: “The chief whip has today restored the Labour whip to Andy McDonald MP. This follows a full investigation by the Labour party into complaints received about public remarks that he made in October 2023.
“The investigation concluded that he had not engaged in conduct that was against the party’s rulebook but reminded him of the importance of elected representatives being mindful not only of what they say in public but how their words may be interpreted, especially in reference to controversial or emotive issues.”
A spokesperson for Momentum, the leftwing campaign group, said: “This is a welcome decision – Andy should never have been suspended in the first place. But it raises serious questions over Labour’s processes and their factional abuse under Keir Starmer.
“Why has it taken nearly five months to investigate a speech at a rally? Why has Diane Abbott – a black woman Keir Starmer rightly hails as a trailblazer – been suspended for an outrageous 11 months now, with no end in sight? And why do black and brown MPs like Diane, Apsana Begum and Kate Osamor feel they suffer worse treatment than their white male counterparts?”
A leftwing Labour source said: “The party wanted to slip this out quietly. If they’ve been able to conduct a lengthy investigation for Andy, why can they not do the same thing for Diane [Abbott]? It’s almost been a year.”
Leftwing Labour MPs had been calling for McDonald to have the whip reinstated. Soon after McDonald’s suspension, Mick Whitley, the MP for Birkenhead said McDonald’s words had been part of a “heartfelt plea for an end to the killings”.
“Andy was making a genuine and legitimate call for peace in the region founded on respect for the liberty and dignity of Palestinians and Israelis alike,” Whitley said. “The ability to discuss the crisis in the Middle East and freely consider different routes to a peaceful solution to the current crisis must not be blocked by the party leadership.”
Labour’s Muslim Network also criticised McDonald’s suspension, describing the move as “obscene and deeply offensive”.
Senior Labour figures from across the party have called for Abbott to have the Labour whip reinstated. Harriet Harman, Ed Balls, John McDonnell and Dawn Butler believe Abbott should be readmitted to the party after the Tory donor Frank Hester’s remarks that have now been described as racist by the prime minister.
McDonald’s readmission into the party will also raise questions on the future of Osamor, who was suspended by the party in January.
