Labour civil war as Diane Abbott tears into Keir Starmer – ‘he treated me as a non-person’
Diane Abbott has slammed Sir Keir Starmer for not defending her more and treating her as a “non-person” over racist comments made by a Conservative donor in an upcoming Newsnight interview.
Diane Abbott told the BBC that the PM treated her as a ‘non-person’ (Image: Getty)
The Labour official, the first black woman to become an MP, was the target of comments made by Frank Hester which she said made her feel in danger.
According to the Guardian, Hester said in 2019: “It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you’re just like I hate, you just want to hate all black women because she’s there, and I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot.”
Despite Hester apologising for his “rude” remarks, Abbott said she wished there had been “more support” from the Labour Party.
In an interview with Newsnight, which is set to air tonight at 22.30 BST, the MP said that “one of the reasons it made me frightened is two MPs have been killed in recent years”
Sir Keir Starmer reportedly xx (Image: Getty)
These comments refer to the deaths of Jo Cox in 2016 and Sir David Amess in 2021.
Abbott also said Starmer “never reached out to me personally and did treat me as a non-person”.
“If somebody was threatening to have you shot, you would have felt your party would have offered you more support, giving you advice on safety and security, even kind of commiserated with you”, she said. “And none of that happened.”
Abbott also said that she felt she was treated differently than other MPs during her inquiry, which concerned a letter she wrote to the Observer newspaper in which she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people were not subject to racism “all their lives”.
“I think that Keir Starmer wanted to finish his clear-out of the left in the parliamentary Labour Party and by writing a very ill-advised letter, I gave him the opportunity to move against me”, she shared.
“And I think what they were trying to do was to string out and string out the investigation. So when a General Election is around the corner, they could just move me out of the way as a Labour candidate because I wouldn’t be in the parliamentary Labour Party, and they would parachute in somewhere else”.
This comes as Starmer officially gave his blessing to Abbott to stand in her seat in May; however, the MP reportedly told Newsnight that she had been offered a deal from a “third party” that she had rejected, where she was asked to stand down.
“I think the idea was that they would restore the whip in the morning”, she said. “And then I would stand down in the afternoon; not the next day, not the next week, but in the afternoon. And I felt that was designed to humiliate me.”
Abbott also apologised again for the controversial letter at the heart of her inquiry, telling the BBC she was not antisemitic.
A Labour spokesperson said: “There is no doubt that she has received the most abuse of any MP just because of her gender and the colour of her skin, and that is completely reprehensible and wrong.
“The party, including Keir Starmer, vocally condemned Frank Hester’s vile comments and reached out to Diane at the time to offer support.”
Lady Starmer spotted for first time since free clothes row … at a London fashion show
Lady Starmer appeared in central London today following the row (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer’s wife has been spotted in public for the first time since a sleaze scandal surrounding freebies emerged this weekend – at a London fashion show.
Brazenly ignoring the criticism that Sir Keir failed to declare the £5,000 clobber freebie from Labour donor Lord Alli, Victoria Starmer flaunted a high-end custom-made dress at the London Fashion Week address.
She sat in the front row of the catwalk, wearing a navy blue jacket, spotty dress and sunglasses.
Lord Alli, who is also Sir Keir’s biggest personal donor, has already faced down one cronyism row since Labour’s election victory, after it emerged he had been given a Downing Street security pass.
According to The Sunday Times, who broke the story, Mrs Starmer received thousands in free designer clothes from the rich benefactor, as well as having a personal shopper paid for her.
Victoria Starmer rocked designer clobber despite the row (Image: Getty)
While Sir Keir has promised an end to sleaze, and insisted transparency is “very important” to him, numerous critics have now piled on following allegations of hypocrisy.
During Boris Johnson’s premiership, Sir Keir slammed Mr Johnson after it emerged he and his wife had accepted a large sum of money from a Tory donor to renovate the No.10 flat.
Sir Keir accused Mr Johnson of failing to answer questions, telling the Commons: “The PM will be aware he is required to declare any benefits that relate to his political activities including loans or credit arrangements within 28 days.”
“He will also know that any donation must be recorded in the register of ministers’ interests and that under the law any donation of £500 to a political party must be registered and declared.”
“So the rules are very clear!”
Lady Starmer has received £5,000 in free clothes from Lord Alli (Image: Getty)
This afternoon, a former Labour MP also slammed Sir Keir, pointing out the juxtaposition of his free designer clothes ahead of pensioners freezing to death this winter after losing their Winter Fuel Allowance.
Beth Winter, the former MP for Cynon Valley, tweeted: “I will be putting in a request this week to Lord Alli to buy some nice warm coats to the many pensioners in Wales who can no longer afford to heat their homes.”
Former Tory minister and Boris Johnson ally Nigel Adams added: “Being given tickets for football matches, gigs etc is a nice perk of the job. But accepting designer clothes for you and your wife and not declaring it, whilst pitching yourself as a paragon of virtue is grubby.”
“Nobody should surprised he’s a hypocrite.”
Speaking on the BBC today, Tory MP Danny Kruger pointed out: “The question is not so much whether Lady Starmer declared her gifts on time, it’s what Lord Alli got in exchange for it.”
“He had a pass to Downing Street. This Labour donor, hosting other donors at the heart of Downing Street, he had access all areas. He is clearly not a public servant, he is not there in the interests of the British people, he is there in the interests of the Labour Party, the Prime Minister and his wife.”
Sir Keir has said his team “reached out for advice on what declaration should be made, so it’s in accordance with the rules.”
“They then sought out for further advice more recently, as a result of which they made the relevant declarations.
“But for me it’s really important that the rules are followed. That’s why I was very pleased my team reached out proactively – not once, but twice – because it is very important that we have transparency, very important that you and others can see the rules are being followed.”
