Labour MP Diane Abbott has been suspended from the party pending an investigation into a letter she wrote about racism for The Observer newspaper. In the letter, Ms. Abbott suggested that Jewish people do not face racism, sparking a furious backlash.
The row began when Ms. Abbott responded to a recent comment article in The Observer that stated Irish, Jewish, and Traveller people all suffer from racism. Energy Secretary Grant Shapps and senior Labour activists have called on Sir Keir Starmer to strip Ms. Abbott of the Labour whip due to her controversial comments.
In response to the uproar, Ms. Abbott issued an apology this morning before being suspended by the party: "I wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them," she said.
Sir Keir Starmer hailed a major turning-point as Labour were finally given a clean bill on anti-Semitism after years of controversy under ex-chief Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. Acknowledging past failures regarding anti-Semitism within the party, he vowed not to let it happen again.
Ms. Diane Abbott has had her share of controversies over the years; notable examples include praising Maoist leader Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward program despite its devastating consequences on China’s population or criticizing UK’s private education system while sending her own son to a grammar school.
As part of her public apology following these recent events surrounding her comments in The Observer letter, Ms. Abbott took to Twitter stating: "I apologize unreservedly for my words... I want everyone who was hurt by what happened during [the former leader] Jeremy Corbyn's tenure as head of our great Party...to know how sorry I am."
With swift action taken against Ms. Abbott's statements by suspending her membership until further investigation is completed, party leaders hope this decisive move will demonstrate their commitment towards combating any form of discrimination within the Labour Party.