Diane Abbott slams racism in politics after donor scandal

Diane Abbott has spoken out about racism in politics, a day after she was denied the chance to take part in a Commons debate over criticisms of her by Conservative Party donors.

Frank Hester reportedly said the congressman made him want to “hate all black women” and that she “should be shot.”

Ms Abbott said she was “offended” by the comments but “has toughened up against the racist abuse”.

The Prime Minister said Mr Hester had apologized and his “remorse should be accepted”.

This has sparked a row over whether Mr Hester should return the £10m he donated to the Conservative Party, which he has said he will not.

In an article for the Guardian, Mr Abbott took aim at the Conservative Party, claiming that policies such as the plan to expel Rwanda showed the party intended to hang up its “cards” as the next election approached.

But she also criticized the Labor Party, arguing that “racism in politics is not just a problem for one political party.”

The article was published a day after Mr Abbott unsuccessfully tried more than 40 times to get the Speaker’s attention to contribute to Wednesday’s contentious Prime Minister’s Questions.

The Speaker’s spokesperson, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said there was “insufficient time” to call all MPs who wanted to speak.

Mr Abbott was suspended from the Labor Party in April last year after writing in the Observer that Irish, Jewish and Traveler people were not subject to racism “for life” and is an independent MP. There is.

She retracted her statement and apologized “for any distress caused.”

In an article for the Guardian, she said she was “hardened by racist abuse” and wrote about her experience of receiving abusive messages and phone calls every month.

She criticized the Conservative Party over its policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda and accused them of using the term extremist as a “slang term for Muslims”.

He added that the Conservative Party was “hopeless” ahead of the general election and claimed the Truss government had restricted the campaign’s ability to “manage the economy”.

“So the only card the Conservatives can play is the race card, and they intend to play that ruthlessly,” she said.

But Ms Abbott also warned Labor to “stand up against racism” and claimed the party had not apologized to her for the content of WhatsApp messages previously sent about her by some Labor leaders. Martin Forde KC’s report found the following: “Whether consciously or not,” it draws on racist tropes.

“Sadly, racism in politics is not just a problem of one political party,” she added.

Ms Abbott, who remains under investigation by Labor over the letter, said in an article on Thursday that it would be “sad and strange” if party leader Sir Keir Starmer banned her over the letter. .

She is understood to have called for her to be re-admitted to Parliamentary Labor Party when Sir Keir asked if there was anything she could do.

Labor did not respond to requests for comment.

The battle over getting Mr Hester’s money back began on Monday, with The Guardian reporting in 2019 that Mr Hester was “kind of trying not to be a racist, but when he saw Diane Abbott on TV, , it seems like you hate me too, so do you.” She wants to hate all black women because of her, and I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot.”

Mr Hester, who runs a Leeds-based health tech company, admitted he had made “disrespectful” comments about her and apologized.

However, he insisted that his remarks had “nothing to do with her gender or skin color.”

The BBC has not heard the recording and has not been able to independently verify the alleged statements. Hester has been asked if his reported comments are accurate.

Sunak did not initially describe the alleged comments as racist, but did so on Tuesday night after they were first reported.