Diane Abbott receives riposte over antisemitism in Labour
Keir Starmer has suggested Diane Abbott could be re-admitted into the Labour Party, despite her being suspended over “deeply offensive” comments.
Speaking on LBC this morning, Sir Keir revealed that the current investigation into Ms Abbott will be resolved “very soon”, and ahead of the forthcoming election candidates deadline.
Nick Ferrari quizzed the Labour leader: “Some supporters have been speaking to me and they’re puzzled about the direction of the party.
“There seems to be room for Natalie Elphicke down in Dover, but not Diane Abbott up here in London. Can you welcome Diane Abbott back to your happy fold?”
Sir Keir didn’t rule it out, merely saying she is still subject to an investigation that hasn’t been “finally resolved yet”.
READ MORE: Labour re-admits MP who said Gaza should be remembered as a genocide
Ms Abbott has lots of support on the hard left (Image: Getty)
He claimed that his Labour Party is a “changed Labour Party”.
Asked a second time whether Ms Abbott’s investigation will conclude before election day, Sir Keir said his party will “have to resolve it very soon now because I think the deadline is looming”.
Pressed a third time, he pledged that Ms Abbott’s investigation will “of course” be concluded by election day.
He refused to say whether he is hopeful of having her “back in the fold”, sticking to his line that there’s “a process we’re going through”.
“The National Executive Committee in the end will decide that, but we’ve got a process in place and we’ll complete it reasonably soon now”.
While Diane Abbott has many hard-left supporters, she caused fury in 2023 when she wrote a letter to the Observer claiming that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”.
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Keir Starmer said the issue would be resolved very shortly (Image: Getty)
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Announcing her suspension and investigation, Labour said the comments were “deeply offensive and wrong”.
She wrote that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people "undoubtedly experience prejudice", which she said is "similar to racism”.
She continued: "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.
"In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus.
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"In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote.
"And at the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships."
Responding to her claims, the Board of Deputies of British Jews described them as "disgraceful" and her apology "entirely unconvincing".
Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge called the letter “deeply offensive and deeply distressing”.
She backed the suspension of the whip, tweeting: "No excuses. No delays.
"The comments will be investigated and she has been immediately suspended."
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