LABOUR is fighting the election as an “institutionally racist” party, a group of local councillors said today as they quit the party in protest.

Seven local authority representatives from Slough cited the treatment of Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen as key reasons for leaving, alongside Islamophobia.

Their resignation deepens the party’s problem with black voters caused by its blanket support for Israel, its entrenched Islamophobia and its blundering handling of Ms Abbott and Ms Shaheen.

Ms Shaheen resigned from Labour today, blaming a “relentless campaign of bullying and hostility” against her, culminating in her abrupt axing as a candidate.

The institutional racism charge was backed up by campaign group Momentum, blaming party leader Sir Keir Starmer for the crisis.

The letter from the Slough seven said that “the recent suspension of Faiza Shaheen and the forced deselection of Diane Abbott highlight the institutional racism within the party, as identified in the Forde report,” referring to the inquiry by top lawyer Martin Forde.

Slough constituency party, “predominantly composed of BAME members, has faced threats of deselection for speaking out against injustices in Gaza and criticising Israel,” they wrote.

And in an apparent reference to leading Labour factionalist and Israel lobbyist Luke Akehurst, the councillors said: “The shocking comments made by an NEC member advocating for ethnic cleansing and opposing international law have gone unpunished.

“This individual has been parachuted into a safe Labour seat for the upcoming election.”

Mr Akehurst is running for MP in North Durham despite a string of offensive tweets and photographs which would have had left-wing candidates barred, including wearing a T-shirt proclaiming him to be a “zionist shitlord” and calling the United Nations anti-semitic.

“We must stay true to our values and conscience, even if the party we once believed in has abandoned them,” the councillors wrote.

When challenged about the councillors’ allegations Sir Keir ducked the question, turning instead to talk about Labour’s “brilliant candidates” across the country.

Labour withheld backing for Barking candidate Darren Rodwell today. 

He had made racist remarks, for which he apologised but then claimed he had been smeared, and faced fresh allegations of sexual harassment, which he vigorously denies.

A Labour panel was meeting to finally determine his fate last night. 

The party axed left MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle from his Brighton candidacy over historic allegations, so sticking with Mr Rodwell would expose the party to fresh charges of hypocrisy.

Labour’s national executive did however endorse all other election candidates, other than in Gosport for unknown reasons, finally ending the controversy over whether or not Ms Abbott could stand for the party in Hackney North.

Also endorsed were black women MPs Apsana Begum in Poplar and Limehouse and Kate Osamor in Edmonton, both of whom had been targeted for deselection by the racist right.

It appears that the penny had finally dropped in Labour HQ that the deselection assault on black women was bad optics and likely to cost votes.

Already Labour is having to direct extra resources into what should be the safest of seats because of fears that its support in Muslim communities is collapsing, largely on account of its support for Israel in its actions in Gaza.

Ms Shaheen will declare tomorrow whether she is to stand as an independent in the Chingford constituency for which she had been democratically adopted.

“I have faced a relentless campaign of unfair treatment, bullying and hostility,” she wrote in a statement. 

“I have been penalised for describing my experiences of Islamophobia and been dismayed at the hierarchy of racism that exists in my own party.

“I have been prevented from speaking out on issues that really matter to me, including on public-sector wages and Palestine.

“I cannot continue to contribute to a party that seems to think so little of people like me and has moved so far away from my values.”

Momentum called Ms Shaheen’s treatment “a textbook case of institutional racism,” adding: “Whatever comes next, Keir Starmer owns it.”