“The support shown for giving Diane back the whip continues to grow throughout the labour movement & beyond. The whip should be immediately restored.”
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
By Matt Willgress, Labour Outlook
A grassroots petition calling on Keir Starmer to restore the Parliamentary Labour Party whip to Diane Abbott has reached the impressive milestone of 10,000 signatures.
Welcoming the petition and its support, Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP said, “The support shown for giving Diane back the whip continues to grow throughout the labour movement and beyond. The whip should be immediately restored.”
Apsana Begum MP added, “”It’s welcome to see 10,000 people sign this important petition.
“The significance of Diane Abbott’s election as the first Black woman MP and her tremendous career cannot be over-stated. She literally made history for the Labour Party. Her courageous and principled lifelong struggle against injustice, sexism and racism has been nothing short of inspirational. Diane has not only been a role model to me personally growing up, but she has also supported me as the first hijab wearing MP.”
TSSA General Secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said, “The massive support for this petition is a further illustration of how support for the Whip to be restored to Diane is growing throughout the labour movement and beyond. We must offer Diane all the solidarity we can and keep up the pressure.”
The co-convenor of Stand up to Racism, Sabby Dhalu said, ““The Labour Party must not alienate African and Caribbean voters. Diane Abbott MP’s record on fighting racism is hugely respected amongst African, Caribbean, other communities subjected to racism and the anti-racist movement. If the Labour Party is to be serious about tackling racism it must restore the whip to Diane Abbott MP.”
Speaking on behalf of the Black Liberation Alliance, Myriam Kane said “Diane Abbott made history as the first Black woman elected to Parliament and has been an anti-racist pioneer ever since, who has inspired generations of Black women like me and will be remembered in the history books for years to come. If the Labour leadership is serious about showing her solidarity, they will listen to the countless calls from across the labour party to restore the whip.”
Commenting on the situation Diane faces and the need to continue the campaign, Merseyside-based Black Lives Matter campaigner Chantelle Lunt said, “Diane Abbott is the longest serving Black MP, one who has stood unwaveringly on the side of justice and equality for all. She is also the MP who has, and continues to, receive the highest levels of racism and misogyny aimed at anyone in Parliament. She misspoke and immediately apologised, as was right for her to do so. Yet, hate spewed against her is repeatedly overlooked, ignored, and those who spew it are rarely held to account. After the hate filled attacks on Diane Abbott came to light, with Frank Hester calling for her to be shot, she was ignored in Parliament 46 times and our, repeated, calls for the whip to be reinstated have, thus far, been ignored too. But 10,000 people have spoken up and we will continue to show up for Diane, as she has shown up for so many of us in our hours of need.”
She added that, “Frank Hester has faced no tangible consequences for his hateful comments, yet we are almost a year since Diane had the whip removed. The time is right, and the time is now – restore the whip to Diane Abbott.”
The petition was initiated by the Labour Assembly Against Austerity and Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas. Commenting on behalf of the two organisations, a spokesperson said “Reaching this impressive level of support shows the growing support there is for Diane to have the whip restored. Now we need to up the campaign, including by reaching 15,000 supporters, and getting as many Labour Party and trade union bodies to follow the lead of the UCU and NEU in showing their solidarity with Diane.”
The petition has also been supported by numerous prominent figures on social media including John McDonnell MP, Beth Winter MP, Richard Leonard MSP, Richard Burgon MP, Nadia Whittome MP, Ian Lavery MP, ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan, BFAWU General Secretary Sarah Woolley, Grace Blakeley, Andrew Fisher, Alex Nunns, Simon Fletcher, James Scheider and Ben Sellers, plus the Labour Women Leading group.
- The petition can be signed at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/restore-the-whip-to-diane-abbott
- Following the UCU and NEU trade unions nationally expressing solidarity with Diane Abbott, a new model motion for labour movement – including trade union and Labour Party – can be found at https://bit.ly/dianeabbottsolidaritymotion
- The whip being restored to Diane Abbott received support last month from a range of forces across and beyond the Labour Party including Ed Balls and Harriet Harman. You can read a more detailed summary here.
