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Keir Starmer has reignited Labour’s internal war by suspending Diane Abbott – again – this time over remarks she made in a BBC interview about different types of racism.

Abbott, the UK’s first Black female MP and a veteran of the Labour left, had been re-admitted to the party immediately before last year’s general election, after a lengthy suspension over a letter she sent to The Observer in 2023.

That letter attempted to draw distinctions between racism based on skin colour and other forms of prejudice – remarks for which she promptly apologised, saying they were sent in error.

Now, after a July 2025 interview on BBC Radio 4’s Reflections, in which she reasserted that racism manifests differently for different communities, she has been suspended once again — just over a year into Labour’s term in government.

Here’s what Abbott actually said:

“Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism, because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street; you don’t know. You don’t know unless you stop to speak to them or you’re in a meeting with them. But if you see a Black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they’re Black. They are different types of racism.”

And:

“I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.”

These comments, clearly intended as a discussion about how racism can operate differently depending on visible or perceived identity, have been seized upon as justification to remove the whip again.

So what is Labour’s argument this time?

According to the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason, the justification rests on the fact that Abbott said she had “no regrets” about the original 2023 letter, even though she now clearly defines anti-Semitism as racism — a change in language from her original statement.

Mason reports:

“She appeared to equate antisemitism with the prejudice experienced by people with ginger hair.”

But this was in her original letter. Mason himself admits that she has modified the way she describes her views:

“She added: ‘Clearly there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism.’ This is because, she said, someone’s skin colour is instantly, visibly noticeable, whereas being Jewish, for instance, is not. Her language has changed since that letter in 2023 – she now describes anti_Semitism as racism, rather than a prejudice. And she again condemned anti-Semitism.”

But Mason concludes that because Abbott said she does not regret the original letter, the party had to act “for consistency.”

Let’s be blunt: this is nonsense.

Abbott’s point is a distinction in experience, not in validity or severity.

She never denied that anti-Semitism is racism.

In fact, she has gone out of her way — again and again — to say that it is, and to say that she condemns it without reservation:

“Of course [I condemn anti-Semitism], and I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the anti-Semitic label on me because I’ve spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds and in particular fighting anti-Semitism, partly because of the nature of my constituency.”

Her political ally John McDonnell put it simply:

“Before people, including Labour Party spokespersons, comment or decide upon Diane Abbott’s fate, could I suggest that they actually listen to Diane’s interview on BBC Reflections in which she forthrightly condemns anti-Semitism and discusses the different forms of racism.”

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, however, criticised Abbott for appearing to double down on the content of the original letter, despite her revised language and clear rejection of antisemitism.

This all points to one conclusion: Labour under Keir Starmer is not interested in nuance, context or fairness.

It is interested in control. And in purging dissenting voices.

Last year, the government came under fire for suspending or sacking Labour MPs who voted against maintaining the Tories’ cruel two-child benefit cap. This very week, the government came under fire for suspending four MPs for “persistent rebellion” including over the plan to impoverish disabled people by cutting their benefit entitlements. And now Diane Abbott, one of the most senior Black voices in UK political history, has been forced out of the parliamentary party again.

What kind of message does this send?

Abbott’s interview wasn’t a defence of racism or prejudice of any kind — it was a nuanced discussion of how racism can appear in different forms.

She made it clear that she condemns anti-Semitism.

She spoke with the authority of someone who has experienced racism first-hand and fought against it for decades.

And yet — for saying something entirely reasonable — she is punished. Again.

Meanwhile, Labour’s leadership continues to welcome with open arms those who peddle cruelty against the poor, the disabled, and those fleeing war and persecution.

Labour under Starmer isn’t just indifferent to voices of conscience. It is actively silencing them.

As Abbott herself said in response to her new suspension:

“It is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview were factually correct, as any fair minded person would accept.”

And she’s right.

This latest suspension doesn’t just attempt to silence a prominent anti-racist voice — it highlights something even more disturbing: the persistence of what has been called a “hierarchy of racism” inside the Labour Party itself.

This was precisely the warning sounded in the 2022 Forde Report, commissioned by Keir Starmer and then quietly buried once its findings became inconvenient. In that report, Martin Forde KC stated:

“I think part of the reason that factionalism has arisen around this is because there is a perception that different groups are treated differently.”

He was referring to the widespread belief — supported by evidence in leaked messages — that anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, and hostility to Travellers were minimised or ignored within Labour, while anti-Semitism, particularly when weaponised against the party’s left, was prioritised above all else.

In 2023, Jeremy Corbyn put it bluntly:

“The Forde Report called out the horrific sexism and racism expressed toward Diane Abbott and others among senior members of Labour Party staff who were factionally opposed to my leadership. Eight months on from the Report’s publication, it is appalling that anti-Black racism and Islamophobia are not treated seriously enough by the Party.

“There should never be a hierarchy of racism.”

But under Starmer, that is exactly what seems to have taken root.

As This Writer pointed out, quoting a Facebook comment by Gary Hutton in May 2024:

It’s noticeable that the media has repeatedly stated Diane Abbott has attended an ‘antisemitism’ course, and that’s the reason for her having the Labour whip restored.

So, it seems the issue for all in the media, the Labour Party and probably Friends of Israel, is her reference to Jewish people.

Isn’t that actually saying Irish people and Travellers are less important than Jewish people?

Isn’t that racism by these groups against Irish people and Travellers?

Yes, it is.

And it illustrates the double standards at the heart of Labour’s current disciplinary culture. Racism is not being treated as a universal scourge — it’s being selectively enforced to punish certain voices and protect others.

Diane Abbott’s suspension is not about opposing racism.

It is about power, purges, and the ongoing marginalisation of the Left.

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