The Labour leader acknowledged the racist abuse Ms Abbott has suffered herself over “many, many years,” but said her comments – claiming white people “with points of difference” hadn’t suffered the same racism as Black people – were antisemitic.
Speaking a day after Ms Abbott was suspended from the Labour Party over her remarks, Sir Keir said: “In my view what she said was to be condemned, it was antisemitic.” He added: “Diane Abbott has suffered a lot of racial abuse over many many years... that doesn’t take away from the fact that I condemn the words she used and we must never accept the argument that there’s some sort of hierarchy of racism.”
He added: “I will never accept that, the Labour Party will never accept that, and that’s why we acted as swiftly as we did yesterday. I said we would tear out antisemitism by its roots – I meant it and that is why we acted so swiftly.”
The row broke out after Ms Abbott, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington said in a letter to The Observer that Jewish, Irish and traveller communities had experienced “prejudice”, adding: “This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable.”
She went on: “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.” Ms Abbott apologised for any “anguish” caused, suggesting “errors arose” in her initial draft letter to the newspaper. Ms Abbott had the Labour whip suspended and the party launched an investigation.
This story is from the April 25, 2023 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 25, 2023 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Champion Humphries eases through to last 16
World number one Luke Humphries continued his bid for back-to-back World Championship titles after easing through to the last 16 last night.
Contract conundrum won't distract Reds' title charge
New year, new context. Liverpool will enter 2025 top of the Premier League, a year of seismic change that could have sent them spiralling downwards instead sees them ending on a high.
Gunners edge victory against battling Ipswich
Arsenal moved into second place in the Premier League table with a 1-0 win over Ipswich at the Emirates.
'They are erasing us. They are erasing our history'
Indie filmmaker Arfat Sheikh was increasingly frustrated by mainstream cinema’s depiction of Kashmir and its people so he decided to make his own. Maroosha Muzaffar reports
South Korea’s MPs vote to impeach acting president
South Korea's parliament impeached acting president Han Duck Soo yesterday, just two weeks after similarly punishing president Yoon Suk Yeol for briefly declaring martial law earlier this month.
Russian air defence 'likely' behind crash that killed 38
The deadly Christmas Day crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan was likely caused by a Russian air defence system, military and aviation experts have said.
'We cannot wait for peace before beginning to rebuild'
As fears mount for Ukraine's future in light of the re-election of Trump, Tom Watling speaks to politicians, military experts and aid workers to discover what the coming year could hold
Quad bike crash leaves girl with life-changing injuries
A child has been left with life-changing injuries after the quad bike she was riding on crashed into a telegraph pole outside a high-street pub on Boxing Day.
Christmas travel chaos as fog causes mass flight delays
Airline passengers hoping to jet off ahead of the New Year were hit by severe delays, as thick fog caused chaos at the UK's busiest airports.
Snow could sweep through UK as new year approaches
Britons are bracing for snowfall and a sharp drop in temperatures, which are set to fall to -2C on New Year's Eve in some places.