Diane Abbott suspended as Labour MP after racism letter

Politics
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Oh dear!

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Racism is such an emotive and ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ subject so unless you’re 100% sure that what you’re saying can’t/won’t offend you should just keep quiet, unfortunately this is yet another example of DA getting it wrong and just like her former partner perhaps now is good time to step away from mainstream politics.

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I agree with you but to achieve that goal no-one would ever be able to say anything ever again.

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Or you could just think before you write David. :wink:

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Yeah. oops, I’ve done it again. :roll_eyes:

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If I’m being generous then she’s been very clumsy in saying racism is omnipresent because someone’s race is immediately and constantly visible for all to see, whereas someone’s religion can be unknown.

However, in light of the issues the Labour party had with accusations of anti-Semitism, I’m astounded that she said Jewish people haven’t suffered discrimination in the same way as black people. No, they weren’t “manacled on slave ships”, but they absolutely were shuttled into gas chambers :person_facepalming:

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It seems to be a typical Abbot “sort of has a point but expressed it clumsily” gaff.

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Cannot stand her personally.

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Never met her so hard to say with any degree of reliability but, no, I don’t think we’d get on.

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What’s she like?

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As an early 1980s member of Paddington local Labour I was one of the many in the selection meeting who voted for her to stand for the GLC sorry, Westminster Council (well, it was a long time ago!), incidentally at that time Ken was our local councillor and lived just round the corner.

Today, it’s rather depressing to see just how far to the right the ‘centre’ of English politics has shifted, similarly the ease with which anti-Zionism has become synonymous with anti-semitism.

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It is sad to see Israel being governed by such a rabid Orthodox faction.
Even more sad that they don’t seem to care just how much damage they are doing to Jews all over the world.

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Not helped when the two are deliberately conflated in some circles.

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On the other hand the American Evangelicals who identify with the extreme right Orthodox in Israel and give them a wider platform, certainly don’t help.

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Quite too full of herself for my liking without the actual knowledge, by contrast I do not like Rees- Mogg, but he was much more personable and therefore easier to listen to, and pleasant to the staff, although I do not agree with his politics.

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Here’s the article she was responding to: Racism in Britain is not a black and white issue. It’s far more complicated | Tomiwa Owolade | The Guardian

It seems to be speaking common sense (hard to see how the Guardian published it!): the article suggests that people other than non-white people can be subject to racism.

I think Abbott’s point of view may be (the neo-Marxist?) theory that racism is about power, so if you’re a member of the oppressor class (by being white), you can’t suffer racism.

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DA’s letter can only be seen as belittling any racism suffered by anyone white and her attempt at apologising (it was a ‘draft’ sent in error) just makes things worse.

What I find shocking is that it’s bad enough having to listen to right wing Tory Home Secretaries espouse racist ideas but a Labour former Shadow Home Secretary basically has a similar thought process even though she is black and would have suffered from racism herself.

This is a godsend to the Tories ahead of next week’s local elections.

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Abbott is a liability, but hopefully not enough of one to affect people’s view of the Tories.

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Historically both in Arab lands and Europe Jews were identified by the likes of strange hats, attire even bells and were subject to special taxes as second class subjects in the Maghreb, Arabia & Turkey. As some here might know French & foreign Jews were subject to Vichy French rascist laws (similar but even more severe than the Nurenberg Laws )and even obliged to sit in the last metro carriages and certainly could not enter Drout!

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they dont particularly identify with any particular Israeli party and have an ambivilent attitude towards Israel. In effect their desire is to convert the Jews but it is undertaken quite discreetly under the guise of supporting the State. Israel cannot always choose to be too fussy about its pals for various reasons