Diane Abbott's refusal to say she regrets racism comments a 'deliberate snub to Keir Starmer,' Lord Blunkett tells LBC
Former Labour Home Secretary Lord David Blunkett has told LBC that Diane Abbott's refusal to say she regrets past comments in which she said Jews do not experience the same kind of racism as black people was "presumably a deliberate snub to Keir Starmer".
Listen to this article
Abbott, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, said it "is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out" after the party suspended her for a second time over the comments.
She had the whip removed two years ago after claiming that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people “undoubtedly experience prejudice” that is “similar to racism".
But she added at the time: “It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not all their lives subject to racism.”
In an interview with the BBC's James Naughtie which was recorded in May and broadcast this week, when asked if she looked back on her comments with regret, she said: "No, not at all."
On Friday, she was suspended for a second time by the Labour party over the row.
Speaking with LBC's Natasha Devon, Lord Blunkett, who is now a Labour Peer and was also a former education secretary, said Abbott's views have "always been on the controversial side", but her refusal to say she regretted her comments was "presumably a deliberate snub to Keir Starmer".
Read more: Dozens arrested under Terror Act for protesting against proscription of Palestine Action
Lord Blunkett told Natasha: "Her views have always been on the controversial side, which has not been a problem, except that she chosen deliberately... I'm presuming deliberately, because she's not stupid, to repeat and reinforce what she'd said before the general election in the letter to The Observer, and then she'd withdrawn those comments and had been cleared to stand in the election last July. And then she's done it again."
"And you've got to ask the question, why? Because despite the fact that I disagree with Diane, but on many occasions over the last 30 years, I actually think there is room for her in the Labour Party. But she has to make room for herself. This isn't just down to the leadership of Labour."
He added: "What Diane did in the interview with James Naughtie... was presumably a deliberate snub to Keir Starmer. And on that basis, it's in Diane's hands, not his."
A Labour Party spokesman responded to Abbott's new comments by saying "there is no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party".
"We take these comments incredibly seriously, and will assess them in line with the Labour Party’s rules and procedures," they added.
The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said that the Labour leadership “wants me out” and that her comments were “factually correct”.
Ms Abbott posted a clip of her BBC interview after news of her suspension emerged. She did not respond to a request for comment, but gave a statement to BBC Newsnight.
In 2023, Sir Keir said he "utterly condemns" Abbott's comments, adding the remarks were "antisemitic" and his party was "absolutely right" to act swiftly in response.
"It is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept,” she said.
Ms Abbott has been an MP since 1987. She was the first black woman elected to UK Parliament and has a long history of anti-racism campaigning.
She has expressed support for pro-Palestinian campaigners and has long called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
She maintains that she has “spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds and in particular fighting antisemitism, partly because of the nature of my constituency”.