Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Diane Abbott said:
“I think Jeremy’s party is going to do a lot better than people think, because a lot of people and not necessarily left-wing people are a tiny bit disappointed about the way we’ve gone in the past year.”
A party spokesman said:
“Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”
This comes after Abbott rescinded her apology for the comments she made to the Observer which got her suspended. What did she expect…
Diane Abbott has rolled back on her apology for a letter she wrote to the Observer in 2023 implying Jewish people couldn’t experience racism. The letter which lost her the whip until the election…
At the time she apologised: “I wish to wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them. The errors arose in an initial draft being sent. But there is no excuse, and I wish to apologise for any anguish caused.”
Now on BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme she takes a different line. Asked if she regrets the letter she said: “No, not at all.” And went on…
“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. You don’t know unless you stop to speak to them or you’re in a meeting with them. But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they’re black. They are different types of racism… 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 just… I don’t know why people would say that.”
When Labour suspended the whip it said it “completely condemns these comments which are deeply offensive and wrong.” Will the whips now judge Abbott guilty of ‘persistent knobheadery’?
UPDATE: Labour spokesman: “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.”
Diane Abbott posted on X this morning calling the IDF the “Jewish Defence Force”. It’s now been deleted…
Not going to help Labour right now…
Perpetual moaner Diane Abbott, Mother of the House, has taken up whinging about Labour again, after a brief pause following her return of the whip. Speaking at the Southbank Centre in London yesterday, Abbott trotted out the familiar grievance: “there is no doubt that there’s institutional racism in the Labour Party.” Conveniently leaving out the fact she herself spent over a year under investigation for… racism. Naturally, she labelled that inquiry as racist as well…
Abbott went on to accuse Starmer of being “harsher than Tony Blair” in his purge of the Corbynistas, stating that “the Left of the party is on the downturn at the minute.” Someone grab the tissues..
With the help of Angela Rayner, Starmer allowed Diane Abbott to stand as the Labour candidate for Hackney and Stoke Newington. Her opponent, who is standing as an independent in the seat, despite saying he is “in solidarity with Diane Abbott” Ryan Ahmad is quite the character…
Ahmad’s campaign website, which plasters “New Labour” over the page, is a lengthy letter detailing his colourful life story. From worshipping at the altar of Blair though loving Corbyn, it’s an interesting read…
“I literally met a hundred of the world’s most powerful people and another hundred most famous celebrities. I was sounded out for roles in the administrations of Afghanistan and Iraq (scary) and I got a superb job offer from mi5…Sadly I couldn’t take the mi5 offer up as I went on to have a major mental health breakdown. I was sectioned and over the next twelve years spent well over a year in mental hospitals in total, with multiple incarcerations in various psychiatric wards…I didn’t work for 17 years and was in constant crisis and isolation.
“I was also homeless on two occasions in my life, once while on the run from a mental hospital (I spent about 4 months on the streets of central London including Christmas) and then again when I was illegally evicted by my landlord while in hospital. I worship at the altar of Blair/Brown but thought Jeremy was inspirational.”
He finishes strong: “Constiuents, I promise you socialism!” The typo isn’t Guido’s…
His YouTube channel is certainly worth a watch, from videos of how he met Beyonce but was “too drunk” to ask her out, serious discussions on who is the fittest Spice Girl to various shoutouts to his “old friends” such as Tyson Fury, Sylvester Stallone and Ed Sheeran. He also enjoys a few Tommy Robinson marches. Considering Abbott’s held onto the seat since 1987, it’ll be tricky for Ahmad to boot her out…
Starmer loyalist and Housing Secretary Steve Reed told Sky News that Starmer should not be replaced:
“We saw what the Tories did. They were in power for 14 years, and after 2016, I think we had nine education secretaries, seven chancellors, and five Prime Ministers. Doomscrolling through Prime Ministers doesn’t resolve the problem.”
