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Diane Abbott suspended by Labour Party

18 July 202524 views0

On Thursday, a Labour Party spokesperson confirmed Diane Abbott’s suspension pending an investigation, and said the move automatically removed her Commons whip.

A Labour Party spokesperson said, “Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”

Abbott told the BBC it “is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out” after the party suspended her for a second time over comments she made about racism.

Labour has launched an investigation into Abbott’s defence of a 2023 letter to a newspaper, external in which she said people of colour experienced racism “all their lives”, which was different from the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Earlier this year, Abbott described the Israeli Defence Forces as the “Jewish Defence Forces”, before removing the post.

With the party investigation ongoing, her remarks face further scrutiny and potential whip removal, as Campaign Against Antisemitism is submitting a complaint to the BBC, indicating broader implications for party discipline.

Left-Leaning outlets frame Diane Abbott’s suspension as a contentious, almost personal battle, emphasizing her lifelong anti-racism activism while highlighting alleged party attempts to marginalize her, employing sympathetic language like “wants me out” and downplaying the severity with terms such as “race row.”

In contrast, right-leaning coverage portrays Abbott’s comments as “deeply offensive” and “notorious,” using sharply accusatory phrasing like “doubling down” and “again” to underscore perceived repeated transgressions and reinforce concerns about antisemitism within Labour.