Diane Abbott said she had no regrets over 2023 comments that led to her suspension – and said the Labour leadership are ‘trying to get me out’
Labour veteran Diane Abbott looks set for anther showdown with Labour HQ after saying she has “no regrets” over comments that led to her suspension.
Ms Abbott had the whip withdrawn after writing a letter to the Observer newspaper comparing racism experienced by people of colour with that seen by other groups. It led to accusations of antisemitism, which the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP has long denied.
Asked about the controversy on BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme, she said she did not look back on the incident with regret. She said: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.
“I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism. I don’t know why people would say that.”
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Labour has said it will “assess” Ms Abbott’s latest remarks. She apologised for any anguish caused by the 2023 comments. Ms Abbott, the longest-serving female MP, was asked if she would condemn antisemitism in the same way she would condemn racism based on skin colour.
She said: “Well of course, and I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I’ve spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds and in particular fighting antisemitism, partly because of the nature of my constituency.”
Ms Abbott said the party leadership had been “trying to get me out”. She was only readmitted during the general election campaign last year, when she was permitted to stand for Labour.
Her suspension came after she wrote a letter responding to comments that Irish, Traveller and Jewish people experience racism. In that letter she wrote: “They undoubtedly experience prejudice. This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable.
“It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not all their lives subject to racism. “
Following her latest remarks, a Labour source said: “There is no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party. We take these comments incredibly seriously, and will assess them in line with Labour Party’s rules and procedures.”
It comes a day after Labour suspended the whip from four MPs accused of persistent breaches of party discipline. Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchliff, Brian Leishman and Rachael Maskell were critical of the Government’s welfare reforms and took part in a rebellion of over 40 MPs earlier this month.
Responding to criticism of their suspension, Labour frontbencher Jess Phillips said: “I think that constantly taking to the airwaves, and slagging off your own government, I have to say, what did you think was going to happen?”
Ms Abbott has repeatedly criticised Keir Starmer and the Government frontbench, accusing the PM of trying to echo Reform. And during a debate on the Goverment’s welfare reforms she said: “There is nothing moral about cutting benefits for what may be up to a million people. This is not about morality, this is about the Treasury’s wish to balance the country’s books on the back of the most vulnerable people and poor people in this society”.
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