Diane Abbott - to stand or not?

I agree with you.

I'm white Irish, and have lived in the UK for almost 40 years. The idea that I suffer the same prejudice or racism as Diane Abbot or any other black person is frankly ludicrous.

Plainly, if Stephen Lawrence was white Irish, he'd have got on that bus and would be alive today.

Also, the double standards are glaring. A white bloke can call black people piccaninnies and be elected PM. Diane says there is in effect (my words not hers) a scale of prejudice and she is vilified.

May wasn't doing speeches slurring her speech and with shakes like that.

If she had, questions over her health would have been raised for sure.

The point is if it is diabetes, the difference is management and that would give cause for concern.

She's been a politician longer than I've been alive. She doesn't have a degenerative neurological disorder like, say, Joe Biden, she's just incompetent. And she's 70. She's a career politician like Jeremy Corbyn, therefore she's not had anything resembling a real job and can't relate to the little people living real life.

I completely agree with this and your original comment.

Fair enough and apologies, didn’t mean to cause offence at all. I know people from all of those communities and know they have faced discrimination and racism as they have protected characteristics.

I probably phrased it incorrectly but was trying to say her comments were shaped by her own experiences which have been horrific. If everyday your social media and the newspapers are full of racist tropes, misogynoir, and you’re treated far worse for mistakes than any other MP, who doesn’t look like you, it would be reasonable to conclude that racism is far worse for a visible minority than others who can more easily ‘pass’ as the majority.

Ed Milliband was treated badly with the bacon sandwich aka ‘he’s Jewish’ stuff in the papers and online which is shit. Nevertheless the level of hate and death threats DA gets is unreal. There is no way your views of the world would not be shaped if you were on the receiving end of that.

Nevertheless the way I tried to explain it before was clumsy and I apologise.

She needs to stop letting Keir Starmer mess her around , she has massive support! Stand as an independent and let the constituents vote for her and then retire after a few years (or whenever she wants )with her integrity and conscience in tact and continue to speak out for what she believes. Her principles and beliefs don’t align with the current leadership. Time to move on!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7j2_-lor8s/?igsh=dHJpZDV5dW95MGtl

I think plenty of voters are voting specifically for her. She has, I believe, the largest majority in Parliament.

She should retire with dignity. She's 70 years old. There would be no shame in doing so. She was the first black woman MP. In time, she will be remembered as a trailblazer and an icon.

This exactly!

Depends how it impacts you though. I know a woman who had diabetes. She died. They couldn’t get it under control properly. She lost a huge amount of weight, couldn’t walk properly, her eyesight was affected. I knew of someone else who suffered mental health issues as a result of diabetes.

People with diabetes are not incapable FGS.

Theresa May is an insulin dependent diabetic and she was PM.

May didn't stop being PM because of her diabetes.

What if they want to vote Labour, but not for her.

Thankfully I'm not in her constituency & nor will I be voting Labour.

The woman has been a liability for a long time, I don't think she should be standing.

I mean given the abuse she’s faced as an MP, saying that Irish, Jewish and Romany Gypsy’s, suffer prejudice but not racism, isn’t that offensive. She was speaking from her own perspective in regard to being a visible minority in the public eye and comparing that to how she sees people from other groups treated. If all those other groups, had fair skin, an English accent and wore an England top, they’d be able to walk freely through the middle of a Britain First rally unmolested. She experiences visceral hate every day and this will shape her perspective

On this I disagree. There are many, and I am one of them, who find this very offensive. But more to the point, what she has said is counter to the law in the UK where Irish, Jewish and Romany Gypsy's do come under the protected characteristic of race. Having an MP, whose job it is to make and change laws, arguing publicly that certain groups of people do not count as races who can experience racism, is actually quite a big deal in that context.

They should give her a peerage (seen that on Twitter), political, prestigious, but fewer responsibilities

Like men, women should fail forward.

He levels of competency maybe should be questioned, and the question of whether she is well enough to stand is something only she can decide. I do think she has been treated appallingly for years and years.

So I say let her stand - it's then up to the constituents in her area as to whether they want her representing them or not.

In what way does someone having a mild shake in their hand mean their cognitive function and capabilities are impaired?

Why does it matter? Not like Starmer will have her anywhere near any cabinet.

Up to her constitutents in Hackney if they want to vote for her or not.

No.

Whatever people have achieved earlier in their career does not automatically make them fit for office forevermore.

I don’t care if she stands or not, but she is providing entertainment in an otherwise boring election.

Whether the Cons or Lab get in, we are screwed. What Diane has highlighted is that Labour are as just as much a shit show, with infighting and disorganisation as the current lot.

She didn't look too well last night- shaking and slightly slurry speech :(

True @Piggywaspushed

I forgot to add that she’s well respected in her community, and really spends time there, trying to help her constituents. Compare this to other MPs who spend more time on GB News, or touring speaking circuits, never to be seen by their constituents.

Will she be a good constituency MP going forward?

Quite possibly not. But her constituents will almost certainly have faith in her and she will be re-elected. If her health means there's a by-election (and yes I agree she does not appear at all well), then the Labour candidate will presumably be elected.