UK Labour again suspends Diane Abbott over racism comments

British MP Diane Abbott, a prominent far-left figure, has been suspended once again from the Labour Party over controversial comments on racism.

Abbott, 71, Britain’s first black female MP, had only recently been reinstated to the party in the lead-up to the July 2024 general election, after being suspended in 2023 for comments that downplayed the racism faced by Jewish, Irish and Traveller communities.

In a BBC Radio interview on Thursday, Abbott was asked whether she regretted her earlier remarks, which sparked backlash and led to her suspension. “No, not at all,” she replied.

“Clearly, there must be a difference between racism, which is about color, and other types of racism,” she said.

“You can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know. But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they’re black.”

The Labour Party responded swiftly. “Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended pending an investigation,” a party spokesperson said.

The controversy stems from a 2023 letter Abbott wrote to The Observer newspaper, where she asserted that Jews, Irish and Travellers do experience prejudice, and claimed this was “similar to racism” rather than racism itself. “At the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships,” she wrote.

Following the backlash, Abbott apologized and claimed the published letter was a draft sent in error. “There is no excuse, and I wish to apologize for any anguish caused,” she said at the time.

“Racism takes many forms, and it is completely undeniable that Jewish people have suffered its monstrous effects, as have Irish people, Travellers and many others.”

Abbott previously served as shadow home secretary under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose tenure was marred by widespread accusations of antisemitism in the party.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission found in 2020 that Labour was “responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination” during Corbyn’s leadership.

Current Labour leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made stamping out antisemitism in the party a central focus of his leadership.

Earlier this year, Starmer led a successful push to bar Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate in future elections, citing his refusal to accept findings about antisemitism in Labour ranks.

Starmer has not hesitated to act against other party members either. Just this week, four Labour lawmakers were suspended for organizing opposition to government welfare policies.

Abbott, first elected in 1987, has previously drawn criticism for other racially divisive remarks.

In 1996, she suggested Finnish nurses were unfit for work in her constituency in London due to a lack of exposure to black people.

In 2012, she tweeted, “White people love playing ‘divide and rule.’ We should not play their game.”

It remains unclear whether Abbott will be allowed to run again under the Labour banner. For now, the party has removed the whip pending the outcome of its latest investigation. Having the whip withdrawn means the MP is effectively expelled from his or her party.