Diane Abbott: Starmer treated me as a 'non-person'

Labour MP Diane Abbott has accused Sir Keir Starmer of treating her as a "non-person" during the row over racist comments made about her by a Tory donor.

Abbott said Frank Hester's comments, which emerged in March, made her feel in danger - and she had expected "more support" from her party.

In an interview with BBC Newsnight, Abbott also claimed her suspension from Labour last year over alleged antisemitic comments was a "move against me", as Sir Keir Starmer wanted to "finish his clear out of the Labour left".

A Labour spokesperson said the prime minister has "great respect" for Abbott and it was "simply wrong to say that there was any plan being pushed by the leadership to force her out".

Abbott - who is the first black woman to become an MP - has given her first full BBC interview about Mr Hester's comments since they emerged.

The Guardian reported the businessman and technology tycoon - who has donated £20m to the Conservative Party since the start of 2023 - said in 2019: "It's like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you're just like I hate, you just want to hate all black women because she's there, and I don't hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot."

Mr Hester apologised for his "rude" remarks, but denied they were to do with her gender or the colour of her skin.

Abbott has told Newsnight that his comments made her feel in danger, saying "one of the reasons it made me frightened is two MPs have been killed in recent years" - referring to the deaths of Jo Cox in 2016 and Sir David Amess in 2021.

She said comments such as Mr Hester's "wind up a certain sort of nutcase and it makes you more vulnerable".

And the veteran MP added that at the time the Labour leader "never reached out to me personally and did treat me as a non-person".

"If somebody was threatening to have you shot, you would have felt your party would have offered you more support, giving you advice on safety and security, even kind of commiserated with you. And none of that happened."

‘I was offered a deal to stand down’

Abbott also spoke about her suspension from Labour in April 2023, after writing a letter to the Observer newspaper in which she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people were not subject to racism "all their lives".

She apologised and withdrew her remarks. A day later, Starmer said the letter was antisemitic and an investigation was begun.

As Newsnight revealed in May, that inquiry was completed in December, with Abbott being given a formal warning and completing a course on antisemitism. However she was not told whether she would be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate in her constituency at the general election.

Abbott told Newsnight she felt "very low" and "depressed" during the inquiry into her because she believed the party was preparing to "get rid of me altogether as an MP".

She said she felt she was treated differently compared to other MPs who had made alleged antisemitic comments - and said she was never called for an interview or even spoken to, a part of the inquiry and was left "in limbo".

"I think that Keir Starmer wanted to finish his clear-out of the left in the parliamentary Labour Party and by writing a very ill-advised letter, I gave him the opportunity to move against me.

"And I think what they were trying to do was to string out and string out the investigation. So when a general election is around the corner, they could just move me out of the way as a Labour candidate because I wouldn't be in the parliamentary Labour Party, and they would parachute in somewhere else".

When asked why the leader would want her ejected from the party permanently she said it was because she "was one of the last leading left wingers in the parliamentary Labour Party".

"Keir Starmer is always saying, It’s the new Labour Party... and how could you make it look more new than by getting rid of Diane Abbott?"

Diane Abbott pictured here outside Hackney Town Hall during the general election campaign, following a row over whether she was allowed to stand

In May, after days of speculation in the lead up to the general election campaign, Starmer gave his blessing for Abbott to stand in her seat.

But Abbott told Newsnight she was indirectly offered a deal through a "third party", which would have seen her stand down ahead of the election – a deal she said she rejected.

"I think the idea was that they would restore the whip in the morning. And then I would stand down in the afternoon; not the next day, not the next week, but in the afternoon. And I felt that was designed to humiliate me."

When asked if she was antisemitic, Abbott said no and apologised again for her letter, saying it was never her intention to cause any offence.

The Labour spokesperson said Abbott "continues to be an inspiration to many" and the party values her "significant contribution to public life”.

They said: "There is no doubt that she has received the most abuse of any MP just because of her gender and the colour of her skin, and that is completely reprehensible and wrong.

“The party, including Keir Starmer, vocally condemned Frank Hester’s vile comments and reached out to Diane at the time to offer support."

Watch Diane Abbott's interview in full on Newsnight on BBC Two at 22:30 BST.