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Original poster

Diane Abbott to be banned from standing for Labour

208 replies

IwantToRetire · 28/05/2024 19:00

... Diane Abbott will not be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate in the forthcoming general election, in a move that is likely to end her 37-year career in parliament.

The MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington — the first black woman elected to parliament — has been suspended from the party since April last year and the Labour leadership has concluded that there are no circumstances in which she will stand under its banner on July 4.

An announcement of the party’s position could come as early as today. There are discussions among senior aides to Sir Keir Starmer about restoring her to the Labour whip before the election to allow her to leave politics “with dignity”.

Last week the Labour leader promised a resolution to the case before June 4, his party’s deadline for candidate selection, which falls three days before the legal close of nominations.

On Tuesday morning the BBC reported that the party’s internal investigation into a letter by Abbott to The Observer, in which she likened the discrimination suffered by Jewish people, the Irish and Travellers to the bullying of redheads, had concluded six months ago, without any update on her status as an election candidate.
Abbott, 70, is said to have been issued with a formal warning by the party and was told to complete an “antisemitism awareness course”. She did so in February, having apologised publicly and withdrawn her remarks.

Sources close to the left-wing MP told the BBC that Labour leadership was deliberately “dragging out the process in order to block her from being a candidate at the election”. It is understood that the decision to exclude her is final and will not change even in the event she issues a further apology. ...

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/diane-abbott-mp-labour-general-election-2024-fvgnbprdm

(If this is true, irrespective of the rights and wrongs, that Labour should use such underhand tactics is just disgusting. In other words they could have told her this in February. Can only imagine how they will behave once in Government.)

Can also be read at https://archive.ph/orgiJ

I know there have been other threads but MNHQ search is useless and even searching by google didn't bring them up, except this one which I seem to have started. https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5029371-rally-of-support-for-diane-abbot-in-hackney-called-by-hackney-black-women

Diane Abbott to be banned from standing for Labour

Britain’s first black female MP likely to stand down from parliament after 30 years as party admits inquiry into her suspensions ended months ago

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/diane-abbott-mp-labour-general-election-2024-fvgnbprdm

OP posts:
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11
DramaLlamaBangBang · 29/05/2024 22:14

DA does not look at all well. Her hands are shaking. She should have retired. I don't know why this has blown up. It looks like she wanted to retire and it had been negotiated, then someone told the papers wrongly that she was being deselected and its caused her to kick off. I wonder who leaked that information to the Times?

Zonder · 29/05/2024 22:12

@Livelovebehappy I save my feelings of being sickened for things that have actually happened, rather than things I'm imagining. And goodness knows there are enough of those - Sunak provides plenty.

Livelovebehappy · 29/05/2024 22:06

Zonder · 29/05/2024 21:57

Raynor and Abbott will be running circles round him.

Abbott? Have you missed a big chunk of news today?

Starmer has not ruled out her returning as MP. He should have shut it down straight away and made the decision to refuse her being allowed to stand. There’s absolutely no doubt whatsoever that he will let her stand as an MP at the GE. It’s sickening.

TempestTost · 29/05/2024 22:04

Grammarnut · 29/05/2024 10:19

This is a woman who has been consistently racist. She likened anti-Semitism to being discriminated against because you have red hair (Whoopi Goldberg said something similar i.e. that the Holocaust was not racist because everyone involved was white). Abbott also said Irish and Traveller people do not suffer from discrimination as black people do. All this garbage comes from Critical Race Theory, the victim/oppressor narrative and the assumption a) that the only slave trade that EVER existed was the Atlantic trade, b) Europeans, esp. British, invented slavery and c) only black people suffer from racism and black people cannot be racist. This same narrative is fuelling the pro-Hamas marches across the Western world, championing rapists, murderers, misogynists and illegal soldiers (they wear no uniform and mix with the general population) who carried out an attack on Jewish people not seen since WWII as the oppressed (so good guys), and Israel as the oppressor (because colonials etc).
True, the Labour Party has acted despicably in not telling Abbott she could not stand as a Labour candidate at the next election, but they probably wanted to avoid the shit-storm that has now resulted - this was stupid of them btw, better earlier, before an election called, now it's going to overshadow their election campaign. They have treated Abbott badly and it fits well with their TWAW narrative and their general indifference to women. They cannot be trusted on those issues. But the Conservatives have made a complete mess of the NHS (on purpose, I think), so what is one to do?

Edited

I think it's important to differentiate between racist people and racist ideologies. They don't always go together.

Some of this kind of talk about racism not being possible for white people comes from a definitional issue - what is race? Not all kinds of prejudice or oppression are based on race, we have sexism, classism, etc. If race is defined very roughly a person might argue that oppression of, say, Irish people was some kind of thing, but not definitionally racism.

At one time of course many Europeans considered Europeans from other areas to be a different "race" but for people like Abbott,awareness about that seems completely out of the picture. I suspect because they have a very concrete idea of what race is, and don't recognize that definitionally it's a moving target.

As far as critical theory, I agree it's completely racist, it is essentially a kind of old fashioned, 19th century, scientific racism. But many of the people who believe it are truly unaware of it - they have been taught that it is the only way to be non-racist, and they are credulous enough to believe it.

I don't think DA has any personal issue with Jewish, or red-haired, people. But she has been indoctrinated with an incoherent belief system on this issue.
What I find really interesting is that in a way, DA is being consistent with what that ideology believes, and what the LP believes. But she is saying the quiet part out loud.

Zonder · 29/05/2024 21:57

Raynor and Abbott will be running circles round him.

Abbott? Have you missed a big chunk of news today?

Livelovebehappy · 29/05/2024 21:56

Well Starmer has fallen at the first hurdle. Weak, weak, weak. He promised that the Labour of old, with all their far left ideals, would be a thing of the past in his government, but he caved to pressure in less than 24 hours. I’m sure if he gets in on 4th July, Raynor and Abbott will be running circles round him. The far left have waited for years for this opportunity, and they will certainly make their voices heard.

KarenOH · 29/05/2024 21:56

Grammarnut · 29/05/2024 21:39

She's not. The treatment of Roma is persistently racist, for example. And she referenced the Jews as not being subject to systematic racism and she was as wrong as anyone could be. White people do experience systematic racism. Racism is about othering, not colour, and some of the most racist people I have met have not been white.

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Hard disagree.

Grammarnut · 29/05/2024 21:42

Sweden99 · 29/05/2024 18:10

Yes.
Some forms of racism are less acceptable to society than others.
Anti-semitism is perhaps the most condemned, as a black woman, Abbott faces far more acceptable racism. It should not be like that but it is and Abbott should have been more aware of that when she wrote.
If someone were to write "Jews and travellers are alike" we would see it as anti-semitic rather than anti-traveller.

You have that the wrong way round. Anti-Semitism is everywhere tolerated and covertly agreed with. Racism against black people is much more condemned - and carries with it the trope that black people cannot be racist (which is a racist comment). Abbott herself is distinctly racist against white people.

Grammarnut · 29/05/2024 21:39

KarenOH · 29/05/2024 20:02

I mean, she’s right.

white people or white looking people do not experience systematic racism. Prejudice? Absolutely.

She's not. The treatment of Roma is persistently racist, for example. And she referenced the Jews as not being subject to systematic racism and she was as wrong as anyone could be. White people do experience systematic racism. Racism is about othering, not colour, and some of the most racist people I have met have not been white.

Zonder · 29/05/2024 20:56

Valeriekat · 29/05/2024 08:40

What are "tories"?

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Ah bless. Doesn't know what Tories are and can't use Google. Awww.

Sweden99 · 29/05/2024 20:46

HermioneWeasley · 29/05/2024 20:27

I’d call the Holocaust pretty systematic

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Quite.
Though I think the poster was speaking in the present day context within Britain. It is still a gross generalisation.

Lampzade · 29/05/2024 20:31

She would win if she stood as an Independent.
Whatever your views on DA, she is popular among those in her constituency
and has done an excellent job

HermioneWeasley · 29/05/2024 20:27

KarenOH · 29/05/2024 20:02

I mean, she’s right.

white people or white looking people do not experience systematic racism. Prejudice? Absolutely.

I’d call the Holocaust pretty systematic

BloodyHellKenAgain · 29/05/2024 20:19

mibbelucieachwell · 29/05/2024 20:16

Was she a bit shaky when she was speaking in Hackney this evening? It looked like the mic she was holding was shaking l Sad

If I'd been treated like Diane Abbott I'd be shaking with anger, so maybe she is too?

mibbelucieachwell · 29/05/2024 20:16

Was she a bit shaky when she was speaking in Hackney this evening? It looked like the mic she was holding was shaking l Sad

Maddy70 · 29/05/2024 20:11

She hasn't been banned though www.threads.net/@skynews/post/C7hf374tVf9/

KarenOH · 29/05/2024 20:02

I mean, she’s right.

white people or white looking people do not experience systematic racism. Prejudice? Absolutely.

soundsys · 29/05/2024 19:35

BESTAUNTB · 29/05/2024 19:21

Hackney will be interesting if she stands as an indie. The left-leaning vote split. Labour could lose it.

I think if she'll take it if she stands as a independent and it will be a total clusterfuck for Labour

BESTAUNTB · 29/05/2024 19:21

Hackney will be interesting if she stands as an indie. The left-leaning vote split. Labour could lose it.

soundsys · 29/05/2024 19:13

Oh she's just been speaking in Hackney to say she's standing one way or another!

Sweden99 · 29/05/2024 18:28

Grammarnut · 29/05/2024 18:24

Well, in the case of the Irish famine the tories were the good guys, they sent relief to Ireland. The Whigs (permutated now into LibDems through various incarnations) stopped it. Depends who you think is a tory (they were Jacobites, so I dislike them for that - but current lot are not Pitt's lot or Bonnie Prince Charlie's).

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Free market idealism.
Still, perhaps a little off topic?

Grammarnut · 29/05/2024 18:24

CwmYoy · 29/05/2024 10:38

What are "tories"?

Unworthy lowlifes not worth a capital letter.

Well, in the case of the Irish famine the tories were the good guys, they sent relief to Ireland. The Whigs (permutated now into LibDems through various incarnations) stopped it. Depends who you think is a tory (they were Jacobites, so I dislike them for that - but current lot are not Pitt's lot or Bonnie Prince Charlie's).

Sweden99 · 29/05/2024 18:10

Yes.
Some forms of racism are less acceptable to society than others.
Anti-semitism is perhaps the most condemned, as a black woman, Abbott faces far more acceptable racism. It should not be like that but it is and Abbott should have been more aware of that when she wrote.
If someone were to write "Jews and travellers are alike" we would see it as anti-semitic rather than anti-traveller.

Original poster
IwantToRetire · 29/05/2024 18:00

Seriously? No-one is demanding Labour avoid any impression of racism to the same extent of as the Tories? Are you on drugs?

Oh dear, another misdirecting of the point of the thread.

This is about how the Labour party is manipulating its own, ie they wrote the guidelines, to get rid of an MP who the current in group, ie the Starmerites, think is too much of a reminder of Labour pre Corbyn.

To repeat yet again

Diane wrote a letter to a newspaper that was published and roundly denounced for being anti semitic

She apologised and was suspended whilst there was an investigation.

This investigation was completed by the end of 2023 and the Labour Party said she should take a course about anti semitism, which she did by February 2024.

The Labour Party did not announce that the investigation was complete and that as DA had done the training should have been re-instated as a Labour MP.

It was only because someone leaked this info to the BBC that anyone knew.

After a bit of non statement statements Labour eventually said she was now reinstated as a Labour MP.

ie they kept her, and lets not forget she did not at any time since February make public that she had done as requested, but not been re-instated.

Its irrelevant whether you or I or anyone else thinks she is this that or the other. The is about how Labour says it works and manages itself. ie rules are bent to suit the Starmerites.

I suspect that at the last moment Labour will say she cant be the candidate for her constituency, not just to get rid of her, but to make sure she doesn't have time to then complete the process to stand as an independent.

It has already been mentioned who Labour wants to stand in that seat, one of whom is a current Hackney Labour councillor and many were suprised she didn't stand to be Mayor of Hackney after the last (sleazy child porn cover up for male Labour councillor) mayor had to stand down. Clearly Labour wanted her to be available to take over DA's seat. She is a very nice woman, and genuinely wants to be helpful but is about as independent in her thinking as any other clone.

OP posts:
Original poster
IwantToRetire · 29/05/2024 17:45

PickleC · 29/05/2024 14:24

To have an investigation into a published letter from April 2023 that takes until December to be completed, then a failure to confirm the outcome, then the leader himself claims it isn't complete when it is and even now there is no definite confirmation of what has been decided absolutely stinks. Its not a surprise as it has all the feel of trying to ensure she doesn't get to stand or is so ground down by it she herself decides not to. But its an awful way to treat someone who has dedicated herself to working for the party. And that is whether people like her or agree with her or not.

The real kicker is when there was all that publicity about the Tory donor making awful remarks about her the Labour Party used that as an excuse to send out messages to members asking for donations. The sheer nerve of doing that when they were treating Diane the way they have takes my breath away and is why so many members are even now resigning or standing down from roles.

On top of, you know, the leadership being unable to even define a woman which had already led to many stepping back.

Thanks for your post.

Not only do I agree with your analysis, but it is a relief not to have which a number of posters think they can do, is make personal remarks about her based on nothing but what the media has fed them.

Or derail the thread, by going on about the letter, when there is an existing thread about this.

Funny that if we heard a GC woman MP was being treated like DA has been by the Labour Party there would be lots of sympathy and out rage.

But apparently not a Black women who had been shoddily treated by the Party she has been a member of for years.

All she deserve apparently is gross speculation about her private life and health.

OP posts: