Category Archives: Diane Abbott

Labour defends welcoming rightwing Tory MP Natalie Elphicke into party – UK politics live

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Natalie Elphicke said she was defecting to Labour due to ‘broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government’

PMQs starts in just over 20 minutes, and today there will be particular interest in the mood on the Conservative benches. Rishi Sunak has actively embraced the theory that the local election results show Labour is not on course to win an overall majority, but this is based on a projection that has been widely dismissed as unrealistic.

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

It’s an issue of humanity and I think you’ve got to show equivalence. I condemn unequivocally the actions of Hamas on Oct 7; those 134 hostages must be released. At the same time I condemn unequivocally the actions of the IDF and Netanyahu; 34,000 people have perished including 14,000 children.

It’s utterly wrong and an insult to those victims to equate the brutality of Hamas to the legitimate military measures that Israel is taking in defence of its people and nation.

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Jamaica condemns Frank Hester’s Diane Abbott comments amid concern over contract

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Ministers condemn allegedly racist remarks and say they knew about them only after signing deal

The Jamaican government has joined widespread condemnation of comments by the Conservative’s party’s biggest donor, Frank Hester, amid concerns about a contract it signed with his digital health company.

Earlier in March, the Guardian revealed that during a meeting in 2019 Hester had said Diane Abbott, Britain’s first black female MP, made you “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”, remarks that are now subject of an investigation by West Yorkshire police.

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Diane Abbott thanks supporters at anti-racism rally in east London

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Hackney MP tells large crowd ‘this is not about me, this is about the level of racism in Britain’

Diane Abbott greeted large crowds of people who gathered at a rally in support of her on Friday night, telling the crowd they had to “stand firm” against racism.

The rally was organised by local black women in Hackney after remarks emerged about the longstanding MP by Frank Hester, the Tories’ biggest donor, that were widely condemned as racist and misogynistic.

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Frank Hester racism row: how key figures reacted to Diane Abbott remarks

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Tory donor has been widely condemned over racist and misogynistic comments about prominent black MP

It has been four days since the Guardian reported on the extraordinary remarks by the Tory donor Frank Hester about Diane Abott. They elicited widespread condemnation for being racist and misogynistic. Here are some of the key voices – and what they have said:

Diane Abbott MP

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Angela Rayner says she wants to see Diane Abbott get Labour whip restored – as it happened

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Deputy Labour leader says party must follow procedures but says she would personally like MP to have Labour whip restored. This live blog is closed

In his speech Keir Starmer has just confirmed that Labour would stop ticket touts buying up tickets for events and re-selling them at rip-off prices.

This is what Labour said about the plan in a news release this morning.

Reselling tickets for profit has already been banned in many countries, but under the Tories, fans have been let down.

Too often, genuine fans are missing out on getting tickets only to see those same tickets on secondary ticketing websites at far higher prices, making them unaffordable and putting them out of reach.

My first ever trip abroad was to Malta with the Croydon youth Philharmonic Orchestra. You will know that excitement you feel when you have an encounter with the arts that changes your life. Everyone in the room will know that the sense, I suppose, of being drawn into something that seems bigger than ourselves, of being truly moved by a piece of music, or painting, or a play …

Even now even now, listening to Beethoven or Brahms as I read the Sunday papers, takes the edge off some of the more uncomfortable stories.

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Tories urged to return further £5m donation made by Frank Hester

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Scottish Tory leader says all of Hester’s donations should be reviewed after racist and misogynistic comments

The Conservative party has been urged to decline or return a reported further £5m donation made by Frank Hester, whose remarks about Diane Abbott have been widely condemned as racist and misogynistic.

Rishi Sunak faces increasing pressure over the £10m previously given by the millionaire businessman, with Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, saying on Thursday that the donations should be looked at by the party.

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Diane Abbott says it is ‘frightening’ to hear what Tory donor Frank Hester said about her – UK politics live

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Hackney MP says she feels more vulnerable after Tory donor said looking at her makes you ‘want to hate all black women’

Kwasi Kwarteng, the Conservative former chancellor, has said that the remarks about Diane Abbott attributed to Frank Hester were clearly racist and sexist. But he said he did not know for sure that Hester actually used those words.

Speaking on the BBC’s Politics Live, Kwarteng said:

[Those comments] are clearly racist, and they’re clearly sexist.

And I think Diane [Abbott] was right to point out that the call to violence, even in a flippant way, is really inappropriate. So they were very stupid remarks.

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Biggest Tory donor said looking at Diane Abbott makes you ‘want to hate all black women’

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Exclusive: Remarks by Frank Hester, who has given £10m to the party in the past year, raise questions over his workplace behaviour

The Conservative party’s biggest donor told colleagues that looking at Diane Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women” and said the MP “should be shot”, the Guardian can reveal.

Frank Hester, who has given £10m to the Tories in the past year, said in the meeting that he did not hate all black women. But he said that seeing Abbott, who is Britain’s longest-serving black MP, on TV meant “you just want to hate all black women because she’s there”.

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Diane Abbott accuses Labour of ‘fraudulent’ inquiry into racism comments

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MP says investigation sparked by a letter to the Observer seen as arguing there is a hierarchy of racism is being run out of party HQ

Diane Abbott has accused Labour of leading a “fraudulent” investigation into her comments about racism that left her suspended from the party.

Abbott, who became the UK’s first black female MP in 1987, has claimed the party’s whips office is no longer conducting a formal investigation. Instead, she claims the internal inquiry is “now run entirely out of the Labour party HQ, which reports to Keir Starmer – and there is no investigation”.

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Steve Barclay says RCN left him with no choice but to go to court to block unlawful strike – UK politics live

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Health secretary defends court action as Pat Cullen says government decision could make nurses more determined to vote for further strike action

Maclean tells MPs that the last Labour government required photo ID for voting in Northern Ireland. She claims fears that this would lead to people being disfranchised did not materialise.

Earlier, in response to opposition claims that the policy was all about voter suppression (reducing the chance of non-Tories voting), she said Labour required party members to provide photo ID when they turned up to vote to select a Labour candidate.

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Labour accuses Tories of turning country into ‘open sewer’ in Commons water debate – UK politics live

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MPs debate Labour motion that would set aside parliamentary time to pass Labour’s water quality (sewage discharge) bill

Rishi Sunak is seeking to capitalise on his improved relations with the EU with hopes of an agreement to allow British passport holders to use e-gates when travelling in the bloc, Lisa O’Carroll reports.

On small boats, Starmer told This Morning that he wanted to stop the boats. Labour would focus on two policies in particular, he said.

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UK evacuates British embassy staff and families from Sudan in wake of ‘significant threats’ – as it happened

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Foreign secretary says efforts to support British nationals trapped in Sudan currently ‘severely limited’

Oliver Dowden is often viewed as one of the safest pairs of Conservative party hands in media performances, but he’s had a tricky couple of minutes here where Sophy Ridge has first challenged him over concerns about appointments to the BBC raised with him when he was at the DCMS, and is struggling to answer on whether he thinks it would be embarrassing if Boris Johnson appointed his own father to the House of Lords.

Sophy Ridge has pointed out to Oliver Dowden that there have been nine justice ministers in the last few years, and that the backlog in crown court cases is not diminishing. He tried to pin the backlog on Covid, to which she said: “That’s not true, the backlog started before the pandemic.”

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Labour suspends Diane Abbott in attempt to stifle fresh antisemitism row

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MP loses party whip after writing letter suggesting Jewish, Irish, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people had not experienced racism

Labour has sought to head off a fresh antisemitism storm by suspending the party whip from Diane Abbott, after the former shadow home secretary played down suggestions of racism against Jewish people.

In comments that were swiftly condemned by senior Conservatives and faith groups, the MP argued that minority groups – such as Jewish people, as well as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people – faced similar levels of prejudice to people with red hair.

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Abbott denies Starmer privately defied Corbyn over antisemitism

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Corbyn ally says suggestions Starmer challenged handling of issue while in shadow cabinet are ‘nonsense’

A senior ally of Jeremy Corbyn has dismissed as “nonsense” suggestions Keir Starmer privately fought against the former leader’s handling of antisemitism while in his shadow cabinet.

Diane Abbott, who at the time was shadow home secretary, disputed the defence levied by Starmer supporters that he had spoken up about the issue at the time, given the criticism he has faced for serving in Corbyn’s top team as shadow Brexit secretary.

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MPs and campaigners alarmed at UK’s ‘discriminatory’ crime reduction plans

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Government’s proposals include more frequent stop and search and making community service street cleaners ‘more visible’

MPs and campaigners have sounded alarm at a series of proposals in the government crime reduction plan, including more frequent stop and search, a trial of “alcohol tags” and criminals undertaking “visible” community service cleaning streets.

Liberty said the permanent relaxation of search powers would “compound discrimination in Britain and divide communities” and the former shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, said it was “alarming and counter-productive.”

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UK to close door to non-English speakers and unskilled workers

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Government plans to take ‘full control’ of borders a disaster for economy and jobs, say industry leaders and Labour

Britain is to close its borders to unskilled workers and those who can’t speak English as part of a fundamental overhaul of immigration laws that will end the era of cheap EU labour in factories, warehouses, hotels and restaurants.

Unveiling its Australian-style points system on Wednesday, the government will say it is grasping a unique opportunity to take “full control” of British borders “for the first time in decades” and eliminate the “distortion” caused by EU freedom of movement.

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Brexit free-movement cutoff plans worse than Windrush, says Abbott

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Senior Labour MP says no-deal Brexit proposal would create chaos for EU citizens in UK

Ending the free movement of people with a no-deal Brexit on 31 October would cause chaos and confusion for EU citizens on a scale that would make the Windrush scandal look like a minor blip, Diane Abbott has said.

The shadow home secretary said Boris Johnson’s policies were taking the country “towards a catastrophe” as 2 million EU citizens resident in Britain had not yet registered for settled status, having been told the deadline was December 2020.

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Corbyn backs referendum on Brexit deal after EU election exodus

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To break parliamentary deadlock, deal has to be put to public vote, Labour leader says

Jeremy Corbyn has pledged to support a second referendum on any Brexit deal after the Labour leadership came under overwhelming pressure to halt the exodus of its remain voters who backed pro-EU parties at the European elections.

The Labour leader said he was “listening very carefully” to both sides of the debate after the party fell behind the Liberal Democrats and also lost ground to the Greens.

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Give priority to Julian Assange rape claim, home secretary urged

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Letters to Sajid Javid and Diane Abbott call for attention to focus on any Swedish case

Political pressure is mounting on Sajid Javid to prioritise action that would allow Julian Assange to be extradited to Sweden, amid concerns that US charges relating to Wikileaks’ activities risked overshadowing longstanding allegations of rape.

More than 70 MPs and peers have written to Javid and the shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, urging them to focus attention on the earlier Swedish investigations that Assange would face should the case be resumed at the alleged victim’s request.

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Shamima Begum baby death ‘a stain on conscience of UK government’

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Sajid Javid accused of appeasing populists by ordering UK citizenship to be revoked

The home secretary, Sajid Javid, has come under fire for his decision to revoke the British citizenship of Shamima Begum, whose baby son has died in a Syrian refugee camp.

Begum, 19, left the UK in 2015 with two school friends to join Islamic State in Syria and said last month she wanted to return home. But Javid insisted he would do all in his power to prevent her coming back and ordered her citizenship to be revoked.

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