Labour suspends Diane Abbott for second time over racism comments
The veteran Labour MP has been disciplined for the second time over her remarks that people of colour experienced racism 'all their lives', different to the 'prejudice' experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.
She first made the comments in a letter to the Observer in 2023 and was suspended from the party after Keir Starmer said they were antisemitic.
She swiftly apologised and withdrew the remarks at the time, and was eventually readmitted, after a protracted investigation, in time to stand in the general election.
In an interview with the BBC on Thursday, Abbott said: 'Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don't know.
'I just think that it's silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism. I don't know why people would say that.'
A Labour Party spokesperson said: 'Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing.'
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