Diane Abbott says what she was not allowed to say in parliament
JVL Introduction
The Speaker’s failure to call Diane Abbott MP to participate in a debate in which she had been named in person is a disgrace.
As someone who has recently shredded all rules of parliamentary procedure with his refusal to allow an SNP motion on Gaza to be debated, he now claims he couldn’t call Abbott because a whole series of suited white men had to be given precedence.
In her response here Abbott explains why the Tories are turning – ruthlessly – to playing the race card.
But Labour is not spared criticism for its failure to take the Forde Report seriously, for instance when it reported that senior Labour staff had said that “[Diane Abbott] literally makes me sick” and that she was “truly repulsive”.
Keir Starmer approached Abbott after the debate, wanting to help.
Here is a record of their conversation:
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do”
“You could restore the whip”
“I understand just let me know if there’s anything..”
“Restore the whip”
“I understand”
RK
PS: See Ed Balls’s comments on Twitter here: “Ed Balls says Rishi Sunak didn’t want the speaker to call Diane Abbott at PMQs yesterday, & Keir Starmer didn’t want the speaker to call Diane Abbott at PMQs yesterday, so the speaker didn’t call Diane Abbott at PMQs yesterday“
This article was originally published by the Guardian on Wed 13 Mar 2024. Read the original here.
Frank Hester’s ugly words about me are a reminder: all parties, including Labour, must stand against racism
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Impartial protecting democracy didn’t see her rise nearly forty occasions. Following on from the SNP vote he is a dammed disgrace, anybody with principles and being a member of friends of Israel would have excused themselves from chairing
Can you imagine Luciana Berger being treated this way?
In 1992, Diane Abbott set up “Black Women Mean Business”, a non-profit, with the aim of supporting, encouraging and celebrating black businesswomen in the UK, the first organisation of its kind at the time and still going strong. She also started “London Schools and the Black Child” during the 1990s as a way to try and tackle the problem of educational under-attainment amongst London’s Black students. It has had many successes. Every year, with the Mayor of London, she co-hosts a London-wide conference to bring together teachers, children, parents, educators and relevant groups to discuss the obstacles and solutions for increasing educational attainment in London and beyond. She also hosts an annual, London-wide award to recognise and celebrate those black students who have manage to excel and impress academically. As a result, black children have made serious progress in schools, and more black teachers are being recruited than ever before, helping London’s teaching workforce to look more like the communities they serve. These are only a few of her many accomplishment, for which she deserves enormous support. We should all be urging Keir Starmer to reinstate her. If he throws her out of the PLP for an eight-line letter that she immediately apologised for, ignoring the decades long anti-racist and women’s rights work she has done for the Labour Party, her constituency and the black population of this country, he is making yet another grave error in choosing which “side” he is not on in today’s increasingly nasty world.
The rot is 400+ years deep, if the whip is not restored, Diane must stand as the Independent Labour candidate in Hackney and an expelled member of the party should stand against Lindsey Hoyle as the Independent Parliamentary candidate
It’s good to read Diane Abbots perspective.She should have been allowed to speak at PMQ’s on Wednesday, this shows something is terribly wrong with the system at present.
Hypocrisy seems to be rife.
And many people are not held accountable for their actions or inactions.
Well done ! Diane. You have millions of supporters both inside and outside of the LP. WE thank you for everything you stand for and have accomplished in the LP. But who would want to represent it now? I wanted you to stand against Kid Starver in his constituency but Feinstein? has already that honour. All best wishes – who ever you represent -for your reelection in your constituency
Hoyle conspired withe Starmer to prevent a vote in parliament on a Gaza ceasefire. Now he appears determined to ensure that Diane Abbott can’t question the prime minister about the abuse heaped on her by the No 1 Tory donor, beneficiary of government largesse running at more than £100m. As an MP Abbott has suffered more racist and misogynist abuse than anyone else in parliament. One might think that what she has to say about racism would be listened to with particular respect and attention. But the reality is the exact reverse. As soon as she voiced an opinion she was slapped down as (what else?) an antisemite. This is the preposterous situation which Starmer’s purge has brought about.
Leaving aside the horrendous racism (if we can), the suggestion that Diane should be shot should have been enough to give her a platform in the Commons.
If Hoyle is, allegedly, so concerned with MPs’ safety that he is prepared to override parliamentary procedures to protect members, SURELY a threat to shoot one of our most senior and best-known MPs (and we know there are sick people out there ready to act on these encouragements) should have been more than enough excuse for Diane to have been called?
Perhaps the Board of Deputies instructed Hoyle not to call her. It seems they are calling the shots in this country. The LP looks for any excuse to withdraw the whip from any MP that puts their head above the parapet.
There’s a pattern here: Sir Keir Starmer immediately condemns Diane Abbott as anti-semitic. He is better able to recognise racism than a woman who has had to live with it day in day out for her entire distinguished 35 years in parliament. Doesn’t this call to mind the fate of so many Jews in the Labour Party expelled and maligned for supposed anti-semitism by Starmer’s right-wing committee men?
What I’m not able to understand is what reasons are there for their hate and disgust towards Diane? What are the reasons ? What has she done?