Diane Abbott’s history of controversies as Labour MP suspended over racism letter

Labour MP Diane Abbott has again found herself in hot water after suggesting Jewish people do not face racism.

Ms Abbott, who has been subjected to racist attacks herself,  has been suspended by Labour over remarks she made in The Observer newspaper.

She wrote that Jewish, Irish and traveller communities have experienced “prejudice”, but added: “This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable.

“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.”

Diane Abbott has had the Labour whip suspended after comments she made suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism ‘all their lives’ (Ian West/PA) (PA Archive)

She apologised and immediately withdrew the comments following a backlash, saying an  “initial draft” of the latter had been sent by mistake.

A left-winger who served as shadow home secretary under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Ms Abbott is no stranger to controversy and has made a number of gaffes over the years. Here we take a look back at some of those incidents.

Chairman Mao did more good than harm

In 2008 Ms Abbott appeared on This Week alongside the former Conservative MP Michael Portillo.

She was asked by the show’s host, veteran journalist Andrew Neil, “Why is it right to wear a Maoist t-shirt, but obviously wrong, because it is, to wear a Hitler t-shirt?”

Ms Abbott responded: “I suppose that some people would judge that on balance Mao did more good than harm; you can’t say that about the Nazis.”

Chairman Mao with Red Guards (Rex Features)

Chairman Mao was the former president of China. In 1958 he launched a programme called ‘The Great Leap Forward’ - an attempt to introduce a more ‘Chinese’ form of communism, aimed at mass mobilisation of labour to improve agricultural and industrial production.

But it resulted in a massive decline in agricultural output, which, together with poor harvests, led to famine and the deaths of millions of people.

Mao was also responsible for the cultural revolution during which most of China’s cultural heritage was destroyed.

‘West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children’

During an interview in 2010, Ms Abbott, who represents Hackney North and Stoke Newington in London, said “West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children” when trying to justify her reason for sending her son to a private school.

Mr Neil, who was interviewing Ms Abbott at the time, responded by saying: “So black mums love their kids more than white mums, do they?” He suggested that Ms Abbott’s remark was racist, which she denied.

A lifelong socialist, Ms Abbott has criticised the private education system and in 2003 hit out at her colleague, Harriet Harman, for sending her son to a grammar school.

In a 2018 article for the Labour List website Ms Abbott wrote that socialism “cannot be elitist or sectoral”.

Racist cabbies

In 2012 Ms Abbott sparked outrage among taxi drivers after suggesting they were racists.

In a message on Twitter, Ms Abbott wrote: “Dubious of black people claiming they’ve never experienced racism. Ever tried hailing a taxi I always wonder?”

Steve McNamara, of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, described the comment as “at worst, racist and at best, stupid”.

“We find it amazing that in this day and age someone in Diane Abbott’s position can try to resurrect the stereotypes from the 1960s,” he said.

“At worst she is racist and at best she is stupid in making comments like that. Either way, she should go,” he added.

Car crash LBC interview

In 2017 Ms Abbott stumbled through an explanation of her party’s plan for an additional 10,000 police officers.

During an interview with LBC, the Shadow Home Secretary gave several estimates for how much the new officers would cost, ranging from £300,000 to £80m.

Ms Abbott was later forced to listen back to the excruciating interview when she appeared on the BBC.

Drinking a mojito on the London Overground

In 2019 Ms Abbott was forced to apologise after getting caught drinking alcohol on the London Overground network.

A photograph of the then shadow home secretary sipping an M&S canned mojito drink was published on The Sun’s website

Transport for London (TfL) introduced an alcohol ban on all public transport in the capital in 2008.

Ms Abbott said she was “sincerely sorry” for drinking the Marks and Spencer cocktail.

“A photo of me drinking from a can of M&S mojito on the Overground has been circulated,” the Labour frontbencher wrote on Twitter: “I’m sincerely sorry for drinking on TFL.”

One Twitter user quipped at the time: “Put it in a water bottle next time.”