Ever since John McDonnell failed to get the required nominations to stand for leader in the last leadership election three years ago, the left of the Labour Party has been waiting for another chance to have a debate about the future of the party. After managing to overcome an attempt by Michael “five homes” Meacher to get the backing of the left for his candidature, the press at the time refused to give John McDonnell any publicity. Gordon Brown's aides also bullied and bribed MPs (including supposed left-winger John Cruddas) into not nominating John.

This time we were hoping and are fighting for something different. After the defeat in the recent general election became clear, the NEC of the party did their best to ensure that the left would have as little chance as possible to influence the nominations of MPs for the next leader. They introduced a nomination period of a mere four days, setting the deadline just before the major union conferences and before most CLPs (party branches) would have a chance to meet. Thus they minimised any pressure being exerted on the MPs.

For John McDonnell, whose support among wide layers of militant trade unionists and left-wing activists is without a doubt strong, this was a heavy blow. Still, after announcing his candidature, the media, for their own reasons, have picked up his candidature and allowed him to present his ideas on the news and on important programs such as Newsnight and Any Questions. His campaign was beginning to gather momentum also among the MPs, many of which were running out of excuses not to back him after John Cruddas said he wouldn't stand. Yet, the Blair-Brown clique had another trick up their sleeve: Diane Abbott.

The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington made herself a name by sending her kid to private school – after criticising Blair and Harman for sending their kids to selective state schools. In the affair she admitted her decision to be “inconsistent” and said that she had to chose between her reputation as a politician and her son. It is very nice for MPs to have such choices. Most of the poor workers of her constituency would have no money to pay for a £10,000 a year private school. She is of course completely correct on the point that this would ruin her reputation as a politician.

Now Ms. Abbott has decided to scupper John McDonnell's campaign by splitting the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, saying:

“The other candidates are all nice and would make good leaders of the Labour Party but they all look the same... We cannot be offering a slate of candidates who all look the same. The Labour Party's much more diverse than that.”

Claiming to represent black women, she now has gotten the backing of sundry petty-bourgeois groupings, including Simon Woolley and his Operation Black Vote campaign who have just welcomed the election of Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng. The idea is that as long as someone is black and/or a woman one deserves the support of the left. Never mind what policies one put forward, never mind what support one has in the movement – what really matters, according to Diane Abbott, is the colour of the skin.

We reject the notion that a candidate's sex or skin colour alone make them suitable to be a leader and we reject this blatant attempt to derail John McDonnell's campaign and a genuine debate about the future programme of the Labour Party. We call on all trade unionists and party members to put maximum pressure on Labour MPs to nominate John McDonnell and ensure a proper contest with a proper choice.