Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party for a second time after she defended past remarks about racism, sparking a backlash from left-wing MPs. The veteran MP faces an investigation over comments made in a BBC interview, where she said there is a difference between racism based on skin colour and other forms of prejudice.
In the interview, Abbott stated: 'Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.' She added that she did not regret her earlier letter to the Observer in 2023, in which she wrote that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people experience 'prejudice' rather than racism.
The suspension comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to tighten party discipline, having recently suspended four other Labour MPs for repeatedly voting against the government. Starmer insisted he would not be 'deflected' from his reform agenda, stating: 'We are elected in to change this country for the better, and that means we’ve got to carry through that change.'
Labour sources said the decision to suspend Abbott was made swiftly, and she was not offered an opportunity to retract her remarks. The move has angered some within the party, with former shadow chancellor John McDonnell calling it 'extremely bizarre' and noting that no action was taken against those who inserted Enoch Powell’s racist language into Starmer’s recent speech.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner expressed disappointment, saying there was 'no place for antisemitism' within Labour. Abbott, the first black woman elected to Parliament and the longest-serving female MP, had previously been suspended over the same comments in 2023 but was readmitted after apologising.
