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Sir Keir Starmer said he "totally condemns" Diane Abbott's comments on racism as she vowed to "uproot anti-Semitism" from the "roots" of the Labor Party. The Labor leader acknowledged the racist abuse Ms Abbott herself suffered for "many, many years" but said her comments, stating that whites "with points of difference" had not experienced the same racism as blacks, were anti-Semitic. . Speaking a day after Ms Abbott was suspended from the Labor Party for her comments, Sir Keir said: "In my view what he said needed condemnation, it was anti-Semitic."
He added: "Diane Abbott has suffered extensive racial abuse for many years...that doesn't take away from the fact that I condemn the words she used and we should never accept the argument that there is some kind of hierarchy of racism."
He added: “I will never accept this, Labor will never accept this, and that is why we acted as quickly as yesterday.
"I said we would root out anti-Semitism, I meant it and that's why we acted so fast."
The dispute erupted after Ms Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, said in a letter to The Observer that the Jewish, Irish and Traveler communities had suffered "prejudice", adding: "It sounds like racism and the two words are used often." as if they were interchangeable.
She continued: “It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this bias. But they are not all their lives subject to racism.
Ms Abbott apologized for any "distress" caused, suggesting that "mistakes have occurred" in her first draft letter to the newspaper. Ms Abbott suspended the Labor Whip and the party launched an investigation.
Since then, Sir Keir has been under pressure to block Ms Abbott from running for the party at the next election.
A left-leaning MP said Ms Abbott could receive training on anti-Semitism as a solution, adding that it would be "bad optics" to expel the first black British MP from the party.
Another said any comments from the whip would depend on her response and urged Ms Abbott to "reach out to those who are very upset" by her comments.
Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who served alongside Ms Abbott in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet, called on the party to show "generosity of spirit" in trying Ms Abbott, noting her swiftness and her decades of campaigning against racism.
When asked about the issue, Sir Keir said: "There is an investigation going on, I must let it be completed."
The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said his suspension "must be the first step towards his expulsion from the party."
Shadow minister Pat McFadden earlier said Sir Keir, the Labor leader and Ms Abbott's home party would decide whether she stands for the party in the next election.
McFadden, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News: "I'm sure if she issued an apology, it's genuine. But it will be up to the Chief Whip and the Chief to decide what happens next. »
He added: “The way it works in the Labor Party is that you are elected by your local party, you have to be approved by the NEC [national executive committee]. The Chief Whip also has a say in this. So there will be a process there.
Lord Mann, the government's independent adviser on anti-Semitism, said Abbott's comments were among the "most startling" he had seen and suggested he would retire at the next election. He added that Ms Abbott's apology is "only half an apology".
Diane Abbott and Keir Starmer, then Shadow Brexit secretary, at the 2019 rally
He told Sky News: "I hope she stands down now in the next election. She has suffered from racism and she is in denial about the suffering of other groups, the traveling community, the Jewish community, in terms of what they have suffered and continue to suffer and of discrimination against them.
Only one of Abbott's fellow left-wing MPs has publicly come to his defense, Claudia Webbe. Ms Webbe, who was expelled from the party after being found guilty of harassing a love rival and sitting as an independent, expressed her "solidarity" with Ms Abbott.
She wrote on Twitter: “I want to publicly state my solidarity with Diane Abbott. She backed down and disassociated. Now the stack against it should stop. We must oppose all forms of racism, always.
Sympathetic Labor MPs also fear that Ms Abbott could be suspended indefinitely in a bid to undermine her selection as a candidate in the upcoming general election.
A Labor source said it might be easier for Keir's team and the National Executive Committee (NEC) to let the Constituent Labor Party (CLP) decide whether they want Ms Abbott to run as the decision would be anonymous.
Mr McDonnell, an ally of Ms Abbott, told Andrew Marr tonight that the letter to The Observer was a "terrible, terrible mistake and she knows it".
He added: “That is why she immediately did the right thing and quickly issued a profuse apology.
"I can fully understand why people are angry, but all I can say is that I hope anyone judging her now has the generosity of spirit to acknowledge that for decades she has been at the forefront of the campaign against racism and has endured so much. . herself.
"Hopefully we can all learn from this."
“It was nice that he apologized as quickly as he did. There was an apology, and that's the difference in Corbyn's case.
"Given the sensitivity around the Corbyn case and the party's history in terms of handling issues of anti-Semitism, I think she should be seen as genuinely remorseful and do more to show that she is.
"It would always be a shame to lose one of your biggest beasts, but none of us are bigger than the pack."
Meanwhile, other political allies of Ms Abbott have turned their backs on the former shadow Home Secretary, with the founder of the left-wing campaign group Momentum Jon Lansman calling her comments "disgraceful".
He wrote on Twitter: “A disgraceful comment by Diane Abbott for which she was rightfully suspended from the Labor Party. Racism is not a competition!
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