Diane Abbott suspends Labor whip after ‘hateful anti-Semitic’ comments suggesting Jews don’t face racism | Political news

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Sunday, April 23, 2023 11:40 a.m., United Kingdom

Labor MP Diane Abbott had her whip suspended following remarks in which she suggested Jews do not face racism but rather prejudice similar to ‘redheads’.

In a letter to the Observer in response to an article titled ‘Racism in Britain is not a black and white problem. It’s much more complicated’, Ms Abbott said she was responding to claims by writer Tomiwa Owolade that “Irish people, Jews and Travelers all suffer from ‘racism'”.

“They are undoubtedly prejudiced,” Ms Abbott wrote.

“It’s similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they were interchangeable.

“It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not lifelong subject to racism.”

She added, “In pre-Civil Rights America, Irish, Jewish and travelers were not required to sit in the back of the bus.”

“In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote. And at the height of slavery, there were no white-looking people handcuffed on slave ships.”

Following criticism from Tory and Labor MPs, a party spokesman said: “The Labor Party totally condemns these comments which are deeply offensive and misguided.

“Chief Whip Suspended Diane Abbott’s Labor Whip Pending Investigation.”

The ruling forces Ms Abbott to sit as an independent MP in the House of Commons.

Shortly after the letter was published, Ms Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, issued a statement in which she said she wished to ‘fully and unreservedly withdraw and dissociate myself from my remarks’.

“The errors occurred when sending a first draft,” she wrote. “But there is no excuse, and I apologize for any anguish caused.”

She continued: “Racism takes many forms and it is quite undeniable that the Jewish people have suffered its monstrous effects, as have the Irish, Travelers and many others.

“Once again, I would like to publicly apologize for the remarks and any distress caused by them.”

Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the letter was “deeply offensive” and “deeply false”.

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps wrote on Twitter: “Once again the Jewish people must wake up to a Labor MP casually spouting hateful anti-Semitism.

“@Keir_Starmer are you actually going to do something?”

Former Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he was “appalled by this downplaying of racism against Jews and other groups who may not have certain skin pigmentation.”

“Redefining racism in obscure ways hurts the cause of its struggle – whether it’s majority versus minority, minority versus minority, or other ‘points of difference’.”

Comedian David Baddiel tweeted: “And in the middle of the 20th century, 6 million Jews were murdered after being categorized as an inferior race. Not sure if that’s a prejudice.”

The Labor Campaign Against Antisemitism said his comments were “simply unacceptable”.

The group pointed to statistics that show one in five Jews in the UK have experienced a racist attack, with more than one in three in the Gypsy, Roma and Traveler community reporting the same.

“Ms. Abbott is either terribly misinformed or willfully bigoted. Neither should be tolerated.”

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