It has been over two years since Diane Abbott sent that letter to the Observer, during which she argued that whereas Irish, Jewish and Traveller individuals might expertise “prejudice”, “they don’t seem to be all their lives topic to racism”, evaluating the affect on their lives to the bias confronted by “redheads”.
On the time, it regarded as if that letter might need ended her political profession. Having spent the primary years of his Labour management making an attempt to purge the get together of the anti-Semitism that had plagued it underneath his predecessor, Keir Starmer’s response was swift. Abbott instantly had the Labour whip suspended – a suspension which lasted nearly till the 2024 election, elevating questions on whether or not she would even be allowed to face once more as a Labour candidate in Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
Abbott did stand, successful her tenth election to develop into the Mom of the Home – the honorific for the longest-serving feminine MP – and a vocal critic of the federal government. If her letter had not been forgotten or forgiven, it appeared to have been brushed underneath the carpet, with all involved considering it extra expedient to maneuver on.
However Abbott herself appears to produce other concepts. In an interview at present (17 July) on BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme, she was requested about her feedback in 2023 – and doubled down on them. “Clearly, there have to be a distinction between racism which is about color and different varieties of racism as a result of you possibly can see a Traveller or a Jewish particular person strolling down the road, you don’t know,” she stated. “I simply assume that it’s foolish to try to declare that racism which is about pores and skin color is identical as different varieties of racism. I don’t know why individuals would say that.”
Within the aftermath of the unique row, Abbott withdrew her remarks and apologised “for any anguish prompted”. Throughout her suspension, this apology was famous by these advocated for her to be readmitted into the Labour get together. However requested at present if she regretted the incident, Abbott responded: “No, in no way.” The interview has sparked renewed backlash, with requires her to be suspended once more. The Labour Get together has stated it’s trying on the interview “extremely severely”, with senior Labour sources saying she is more likely to be suspended.
However we shouldn’t be shocked that Abbott doesn’t remorse what she stated. Her memoir A Lady Like Me, printed in September 2024, made it very clear what she considered each the letter she wrote and the way it was acquired. She wrote then that whereas her feedback might have been “ill-judged” and “clumsy”, she stood by them. As within the Reflections interview, she tries to make a distinction between seen and fewer seen traits that may put a person susceptible to a prejudice (an argument which is fascinating to think about in mild of the demographics of her constituency, which incorporates the Hasidic neighborhood in Stamford Hill whose members are extremely identifiable as Jews).
As a substitute of an apology, this passage within the guide is an apologia, a defence of the whole incident. The one error Abbott admits to being naïve about what the fall-out is perhaps, which she takes as not a response to the implications of what she says however a private assault: “The vitriol of the response within the press and the general public debate shocked me, though maybe I ought to have identified by that time to not be shocked by any assaults towards me within the media.”
If there are any doubts about whether or not her views is perhaps interpreted as anti-Semitic, she argues these must be forged apart in mild of her electoral success in such a Jewish seat: “If I actually did hate Jewish individuals, I believe that after greater than thirty years my neighbours and constituents will surely have labored that out.” At the moment’s interview echoes this argument: “I do get a bit weary of individuals attempting to pin the anti-Semitic label on me as a result of I’ve spent a lifetime combating racism of all types and particularly combating anti-Semitism, partly due to the character of my constituency.”
This was not a case Abbott made whereas the investigation into her feedback was ongoing and she or he was ready for the Labour Get together to determine whether or not to revive the whip. There was some confusion over her standing within the run-up to the election, with conflicting reviews that Abbott had been banned from standing once more for Labour (one thing she is known to have discovered herself by way of media reviews) or {that a} deal was being brokered to present her again the whip on the understanding she wouldn’t search re-election.
Regardless of the plan might have been, it went awry – and the outcome was that Abbott did certainly stand once more. If the Labour management anticipated gratitude on her half for this resolution, they’ll have been dissatisfied. Discussing her guide on the Cambridge Literary Pageant in April this 12 months, Abbott informed the viewers: “I used to be elected for the tenth time final 12 months, however that was no due to the individuals round Keir Starmer.”
“I might have stood down final 12 months,” she continued, “however I believed, F you, F you” – a line met with a spherical of applause. “If I’ve to crawl again to parliament on my arms and knees, I’m going again.” Abbott didn’t select to deliver up the feedback that had result in her suspension within the first place. However had there been an viewers query on it, the reply is true there within the guide.
If she feels emboldened to take care of her facet of the story now, it’s no surprise. Abbott’s place has clearly been strengthened by successful the row over whether or not she could be allowed to face: as Mom of the Home and a trail-blazing veteran MP, she usually assaults the Authorities within the chamber on points from Gaza to welfare spending, and has to date confronted no sanction from her get together. In per week during which 4 Labour MPs have misplaced the whip resulting from persistent disobedience, her feedback at present despatched a message to the Labour management making an attempt to stamp out dissent on the backbenches: deliver it on.
[Further reading: Why Keir Starmer has purged Labour rebels again]