“We stand with Diane in her long-standing fight against racism & misogyny, just as Diane has stood unwaveringly with trade unions for decades.”
UCU union statement
By Matt Willgress, Labour Outlook Editor
Since the widely reported comments from Tory Donor Frank Hester that hearing Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and “should be shot,” became public knowledge, there has been growing solidarity with Diane.
Of course, this feeling didn’t run all the way into the centre of our reactionary political elite – as proven when (perhaps not so) astonishingly, the issue was debated in Parliament, Diane herself stood to speak 46 times only to be ignored and then told time had run out.
The days that followed saw widespread calls from across civil society and beyond for the Tories to disavow their £10 million of donations from the ghastly Hester, with some calling for it to be returned and others – such as former Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman – calling for it to be given to a charity nominated by Diane.
More importantly, there had been widespread and growing solidarity and support for Diane, including from – but not limited to – her own constituents, numerous black & BAME community leaders and groups, local and national trade unions, many Labour backbench MPS and former MPs from across the spectrum of opinion in the Party.
This included a 1000+ strong rally called in Hackney itself.
A powerful statement from the UCU union for example said, “we stand with Diane in her long-standing fight against racism and misogyny, just as Diane has stood unwaveringly with trade unions for decades.
“We call for a full public apology, for Frank Hester to be investigated by police, and his donations to be returned, and for the Labour Party leadership to restore the whip.”
This was followed by the National Education Union National Conference expressing their solidarity with Diane.
Also of significance, was that a number of these expressions of support have explicitly included the call for the Parliamentary Labour Party whip to be restored to Diane, and these have not been limited to the Left.
Ed Balls, to give just one example, said “she should be brought back following that apology and she should be supported and defended rather than left on her own, which is what’s happening at the moment.”
Former Political Secretary to Tony Blair John McTernan repeated his previous calls for the whip the be restored, saying “Time to give Diane Abbott back the Labour whip. No better time to show solidarity!”
The case for the whip to be restored is clear – and Diane herself made clear to Keir Starmer that this was the move that could be made to genuinely support her, rather than a few words in Parliament.
As the co-Convenor of Stand up to Racism Sabby Dhalu aptly put it, Diane “should not be left isolated and has a better track record on fighting racism than anyone else in the Labour Party. Racism is not a political football. Keir Starmer must restore the whip.”
The call has also received growing widespread support publicly, with numerous petitions and social media initiatives garnering support, including one petition launched by the Labour Assembly and Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas which received over 5000 signatories in a day, and now stands at over 10,000 strong.
Majority grassroots opinion in the Labour and trade union movement is clearly that the whip should be restored, as a poll by ‘Labourlist’ indicated.
Whilst ignoring these calls, Labour engaged in shameless attempts to cash in on the racism towards Diane through a fundraising email – showing just how out of touch this leadership are with communities and labour movement activists across the country.
As a new model motion for Labour movement bodies says “Diane Abbott is a trailblazer who deserves our full solidarity.”
Let’s pledge to up the campaigning that can grow the pressure on Starmer.
Stand with Diane Abbott!
- Sign the petition at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/restore-the-whip-to-diane-abbott
- Read the motion at https://bit.ly/dianeabbottsolidaritymotion
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