National Education Union Stands with Diane Abbott!

“[We] affirm our unequivocal support with Diane Abbott & condemn the attacks she has suffered.”

We publish below a speech by Louise Regan at the recent NEU Conference in support of a motion (copied below) & amendment standing with Diane Abbott

“[We] affirm our absolute and unequivocal support with Diane Abbott and condemn the attacks that she has suffered.

Frank Hester’s abhorrent comments about Diane, including saying that she should be shot, are an absolute disgrace and let’s be clear, despite what he may say, they were racist and they were misogynistic.

But this is not new. Diane was the first black, female MP elected in 1987 and she has suffered decades of racist abuse.

In a report by Amnesty after the 2017 General Election they found that Diane Abbott was the target of nearly a third of all abusive tweets that they analysed, and this increased to 45% in the six weeks running up to the election. This amounts to an average of 51 abusive tweets per day over the 158 days looked at. Conference that is shameful.

Conference there is no place for racism in our society and we must continue to call it out wherever and whenever we see it.

That is why we are calling for the union to further the work we are already doing in terms of curriculum resources for schools and colleges, including material addressing Islamophobia and antisemitism.

Conference we need anti-racist education embedded in our curriculum. We need to ensure we have materials and resources to support our members in delivering this.

The educators conference last month, organised by NEU members, heard from a range of our members and organisations about the work they are doing in their workplaces and materials and resources that can be used to teach about Islamophobia and antisemitism.

We know that racism is on the rise – those who wish to stoke hatred and division in our society are emboldened by the language and behaviour of certain elected politicians.

But we know that people aren’t born racist. Racism is learnt – through the things that people see and hear in the media, online and from some of our politicians. Our job as educators is to unteach this. It is to ensure that we challenge racism wherever and whenever we see it and to give our children and young people the skills and understanding to challenge it too.”

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• Louise Regan is an executive member of the National Education Union (NEU). You can follow her on Twitter here.
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• You can join 10,000+ people in signing the petition calling on Keir Starmer to restore the whip to Diane Abbott here.

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Motion Passed by NEU Conference: Impact of racist language and violence on schools and communities

Conference notes:

1. The racist, misogynistic comments by Frank Hester, the Conservative Party’s biggest donor, about Diane Abbot MP
2. The 2022 internal Labour Party Forde report identified “overt and underlying racism and sexism” towards Abbott and other Black MPs 
3. That former Home Secretary Suella Braverman claimed “Islamists” are “in charge” of Britain
4. That Lee Anderson MP, former Conservative Party Deputy Chair, claimed that Islamists are ‘in control of London’
5. That Braverman’s speech about migration being a threat to British Values was praised by fascist organisations including the BNP and Britain First.

Conference believes:

1. Hester’s comment that an MP “should be shot” normalises violence against women
2. The language and behaviour of certain elected politicians actively encourages and emboldens the far right and encourages and normalises harassment, discrimination and violence
3. The growth of racist, far right and fascist groups will have serious consequences in schools and colleges; and deter women, LGBT+ and Black candidates from standing for public office
4. Government is not doing enough to help schools and colleges challenge racism or to respond to poverty and deprivation in their communities
5. Prevent policy undermines effective safeguarding and compounds discrimination against Muslim students and staff.

Conference expresses full solidarity with Diane Abbott and instructs the executive to: 

1. Support and publicise mobilisations against racism and far right and fascist groups called by organisations, to which we are affiliated
2. Work with partners to produce anti racism curriculum materials supporting critical thinking skills and digital literacy.
3. Produce General Election campaign materials against racism and fascism and work with organisations such as Stand up To Racism to do so (in line with political funding rules)
4. Provide briefings for members and wider audiences explaining why Prevent doesn’t achieve effective safeguarding but does fuel discriminatory stereotypes
5. Campaign for awareness of the union’s current advice around avoiding disproportionate Prevent referrals; and for Prevent to be abolished.