Keir Starmer: Diane Abbott’s racism comments were ‘antisemitic’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has condemned Diane Abbott’s comments about racism as “antisemitic” and said they will never be accepted in the party.
Abbott had the Labour whip suspended after comments suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”.
Sir Keir would not say if Abbott should not stand again for her constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington at the next general election.
He said: “There’s an investigation in place, I’ve got to let that investigation be completed”.
Speaking to reporters, Starmer said: “In my view what she said was to be condemned, it was antisemitic.”
Abbott wrote in a letter in The Observer that although white people “with points of difference” suffer prejudice, they have not suffered the same racism as black people.
She has been an MP since 1987, was the first black woman elected to Parliament, and served as former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow home secretary.
Sir Keir said: “Diane Abbott has suffered a lot of racial abuse over many many years – that doesn’t take away from the fact that I condemn the words she used and we must never accept the argument that there’s some sort of hierarchy of racism.
“I will never accept that, the Labour Party will never accept that, and that’s why we acted as swiftly as we did yesterday.”
Pat McFadden, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, has said disciplinary matters “will be a matter for the chief whip and the leader” and the party had “no choice” but to take action.
He told BBC Breakfast that her comments “were offensive to people and based on a very wrong idea that there can be some sort of hierarchy when it comes to victims of racism.
“Anyone who has looked at the history will know that Jewish people have suffered the most terrible racism. The history of the 20th century is very obvious.
Abbott apologised for any “anguish” caused following the letter’s publication, suggesting “errors arose” in her initial draft letter to the newspaper.
A Labour spokesperson said: “The Labour Party completely condemns these comments, which are deeply offensive and wrong.
“The chief whip has suspended the Labour whip from Diane Abbott pending an investigation.”
By Helen William, PA