Angela Rayner says she needs to see Diane Abbott let again into Labour
Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner has mentioned she want to see Diane Abbott let again into the Labour Party after being suspended virtually a yr in the past.
Ms Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, has sat as an impartial since April after Labour withdrew the whip following feedback over the Jewish, Irish and Traveller communities. Her feedback got here moments after Keir Starmer resisted calls to welcome the veteran left-winger again into the fold as he mentioned the difficulty over the Labour whip had not been “resolved”.
Ms Rayner mentioned she “shared the frustration” on the investigation into the feedback having taken 11 months. She mentioned she would “personally” prefer to see “Diane back” into the get together. But she emphasised that she has no involvement within the course of and that the choice is made via a panel of specialists.
Asked if Ms Abbott ought to have the Labour whip restored, Ms Rayner instructed a gathering of journalists: “I share the frustration at times on how long the processes take but in instances, some of them, there are sensitive reasons for that… But I would like to see Diane back, personally… but the Labour Party has to follow its procedures and for me that is the most important thing.”
She added that feedback allegedly made by Tory donor Frank Hester that seeing Ms Abbott on TV made him “want to hate all Black women” and that she “should be shot” had been “absolutely chilling”. She added: “I know because I worked with her when she was in the Shadow Cabinet with me. I saw the levels of abuse that Diane got when she was on our frontbench and Diane has been having severe abuse, and it’s well documented that she gets racist, misogynistic, vile abuse, and that’s been going on for a long time.”
After a heated PMQs session about Mr Hester’s feedback on Wednesday, Mr Starmer went over to talk to a frustrated-looking Ms Abbott after she was not chosen to talk. Ms Abbott later confirmed she instructed Mr Starmer he may restore the whip when he requested her if there was something he may do. In response, Mr Starmer mentioned: “I understand.”
The following day the Labour chief emphasised her suspension was “an entirely different issue” from the racism storm and cautioned in opposition to conflating the 2 issues. Ms Abbott over a letter she wrote to The Observer suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller individuals are not topic to racism “all their lives”.
Mr Starmer instructed the BBC’s Jeremy Vine: “That was about allegations of antisemitism in relation to a letter… which is subject to an ongoing investigation, which is separate from me. That’s not something which I conduct.” He mentioned the “independent process” was “not resolved”.
In a press release on Monday, a spokesperson from Mr Hester’s firm The Phoenix Partnership mentioned: “Frank Hester accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbott in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin. The Guardian is right when it quotes Frank saying he abhors racism, not least because he experienced it as the child of Irish immigrants in the 1970’s.
“He rang Diane Abbott twice right this moment to attempt to apologise immediately for the damage he has brought about her, and is deeply sorry for his remarks. He needs to make it clear that he regards racism as a poison which has no place in public life.”
