The future of Hackney's MP as a Labour politician is hanging in the balance after "antisemitic" words she wrote in a letter to a national paper.

Diane Abbott has had the Labour party whip suspended following comments she made about racism suffered by people who are not black in the Observer.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said an investigation into the letter will need to be carried out before decisions are made about whether she can run as a Labour MP again.

In the letter, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington suggested white people "with points of difference" suffer prejudice but have not suffered the same racism as black people.

She suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism "all their lives".

After significant backlash, she apologised for the "anguish" caused, suggesting "errors arose" in her draft letter to the Observer.

She added: "I wish to wholly and unreservedly withdraw my written remarks and disassociate myself from them."

Labour announced the whip had been removed from her, pending an investigation into the letter.

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The party said: "The Labour Party completely condemns these comments, which are deeply offensive and wrong.

"The chief whip has suspended the Labour whip from Diane Abbott pending an investigation."

Sir Keir would not say if Ms Abbott should not stand again for her London constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington at the next general election, stating: "There’s an investigation in place, I’ve got to let that investigation be completed."

Sir Keir, speaking to reporters after a round-table event in south-east London about violence against women and girls, said: "In my view what she said was to be condemned, it was antisemitic."

Sir Keir said: "Diane Abbott has suffered a lot of racial abuse over many, many years – that doesn’t take away from the fact that I condemn the words she used and we must never accept the argument that there’s some sort of hierarchy of racism.

"I will never accept that, the Labour Party will never accept that, and that’s why we acted as swiftly as we did yesterday."

He was asked whether Abbott may be prevented from standing as a Labour MP in the next election.

Starmer said: "There's an investigation in place. I've got to let that investigation be completed."