Diane Abbott says 'Labour wants me out' as she becomes fifth MP to be suspended from the party this week

By Henry Moore

Diane Abbott has said the Labour leadership “wants me out” after she was suspended by the party for the second time, becoming the fifth MP to face action this week.

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Former shadow home secretary Abbott had the whip removed two years ago after claiming that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people “undoubtedly experience prejudice” that is “similar to racism.”

But she added at the time: “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.”

A Labour spokesperson said the MP had been suspended "pending an investigation."

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This week, Ms Abbott was asked if she regrets the comments to which she replied, "no, not at all."

The MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington added: "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 [their background].

"You don’t know unless you stop to speak to them or you’re in a meeting with them.

“But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they’re black. They are different types of racism.

“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 just … I don’t know why people would say that.”

In response, a Labour Party spokesman said: “There is no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party.

“We take these comments incredibly seriously, and will assess them in line with the Labour Party’s rules and procedures.”

The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said on Thursday that the Labour leadership “wants me out” and that her comments in a BBC interview released this week were “factually correct”.

Ms Abbott posted a clip of her BBC interview after news of her suspension emerged.

She did not respond to a request for comment, but gave a statement to BBC Newsnight.

“It is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out.

“My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept,” she said.

Ms Abbott has been an MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987 and has a long history of anti-racism campaigning.

She has expressed support for pro-Palestinian campaigners and has long called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

She maintains that she has “spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds and in particular fighting antisemitism, partly because of the nature of my constituency”.

Her east London seat includes Stamford Hill, which has one of the highest proportion of Jewish residents in Britain.

Keir Starmer has defended his decision to suspend four other Labour MPs over "persistent breaches of discipline."

Speaking to reporters, Sir Keir said he had to "deal with people who repeatedly broke the whip, because everyone was elected as a Labour MP on the manifesto of change, and everybody needs to deliver as a Labour government".

He said: "We were elected in to change this country for the better, and that means we've got to carry through that change, and we've got to carry through reforms."

"We inherited a broken economy and broken public services. No government has inherited both of those ever before and I'm determined that we will change this country for the better," he added.

The four suspended MPs are Brian Leishman, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchcliff and Rachael Maskell, who led the backbench rebellion over planned welfare cuts.

The PM is desperately trying to restore party discipline after dozens of MPs threatened to crash the government's recent welfare bill.

All four suspended MPs voted against the bill.