There’s putting your foot in it, and then there’s this. Diane Abbott has potentially risked her political career this weekend, after she sent a controversial letter to The Observer. The senior Labour MP has since apologised for her submission.
What did Diane Abbott say about Jewish people and racism?
The post, titled ‘Racism is Black and White’, claims that Jewish people, Travellers, and the Irish have only ever suffered from ‘prejudice’. She insists that racism comes down to skin colour only, and flippantly compares the groups’ struggles to those of redheads.
You can see a screenshot of the letter here:
Diane Abbott distances herself from her own remarks
Responding to an enormous public outcry on Sunday, Diane Abbott has since backtracked from the letter. She says that there were ‘errors’ in a first draft she sent to The Observer, which were then subsequently published. The politician also apologised for ‘any distress caused’.
“I wish to withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them. The errors arose in an initial draft that was sent. Racism takes many forms, and it is undeniable these groups have suffered their affects. I would like to publicly apologise for these remarks.” | Diane Abbott
Labour leader told to ‘take action quickly’
However, the apology may be a case of ‘too little, too late’ for some branches of the party. Calls are growing for Labour to remove the whip from Abbott – and these sentiments have been echoed by the Labour Against Anti-Semitism group.
Issuing their own statement on Sunday, LAAS denounced the ‘grossly offensive’ comments made by Hackney’s long-serving MP. Fiona Sharpe, a spokesperson for the group, has asked Keir Starmer to react swiftly to the matter.
“To reduce the racism faced by Jews to mere prejudice when six million of them were slaughtered in Europe for their race is grossly offensive… Ms. Abbott is either woefully misinformed or deliberately bigoted. We call upon Keir Starmer to remove the whip.” | Fiona Sharpe