Diane Abbott's comments were antisemitic, Labour leader says

Comments made by former shadow minister Diane Abbott in a letter were antisemitic, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Ms Abbott was suspended as a Labour MP after suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people were not subject to racism "all their lives".

She later apologised and withdrew the remarks, written in a letter to the Observer newspaper.

Sir Keir condemned the letter and said he acted swiftly to suspend Ms Abbott.

Sir Keir said that the swiftness with which the MP had had the whip removed demonstrated "how far the Labour party has changed" and that Labour has "zero tolerance" of antisemitism.

When pressed repeatedly on whether Ms Abbott's comments showed prejudice towards Jewish people, Sir Keir said: "In my view, what she said was to be condemned, it was antisemitic."

But Sir Keir would not be drawn on whether Ms Abbott should be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate in the next election, saying "there's an investigation going on".

On Sunday, Labour said the chief whip - who is responsible for party management of MPs - had suspended Ms Abbott pending an investigation.

Suspending the whip means Ms Abbott will not be allowed to represent Labour in the House of Commons, where she will now sit as an independent MP.

Earlier Pat McFadden, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said "it will be for the chief whip and the leader to decide what happens next".

Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire told the BBC's Politics Live programme she found it "hard to see" Ms Abbott returning as a Labour MP.

Sir Keir vowed to "root out" antisemitism within Labour after complaints of Jewish prejudice dogged the party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

Under Mr Corbyn's leadership, concerns that antisemitism was on the rise culminated in the party being investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and being found to have acted unlawfully.

Mr Corbyn is still suspended from the parliamentary party after comments he made that suggested the scale of the problem had been overstated.

The EHRC said in February that it was now satisfied with Labour's action on the issue.

Ms Abbott has been an MP since 1987, was the first black woman elected to Parliament and served as Mr Corbyn's shadow home secretary.

In her letter to the Observer, she wrote that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people "undoubtedly experience prejudice", which she said is "similar to racism".

She continued: "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.

"In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus.

"In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote.

"And at the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships."

She had been responding to a comment piece in the Guardian questioning the view that racism "only affects people of colour".

Ms Abbott's letter prompted a backlash, including from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which described it as "disgraceful" and her apology "entirely unconvincing".

In her apology, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington said "errors" arose in an initial draft that was sent.

She added: "But there is no excuse, and I wish to apologise for any anguish caused.

"Racism takes many forms, and it is completely undeniable that Jewish people have suffered its monstrous effects, as have Irish people, Travellers and many others."