Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party
Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation.
A party spokesperson confirmed the suspension but did not give a reason why.
It comes after the veteran MP defended previous comments about racism which led to a year-long suspension. She was readmitted back into the party just before last year’s general election.
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.”
Sky News understands there will now be a fresh investigation into Ms Abbott’s seeming unwillingness to apologise for the controversy she sparked with a letter to The Observer in April 2023.
In the letter, she argued that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives” and said that was different to the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.
Shortly after it was published, she issued a statement in which she said she wished to “wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them”.
She was suspended from the party and only re-admitted just before the 2024 general election.
However speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme this week, she said she did not look back on the incident with regret.
She 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.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the latest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
