Diane Abbott has thrown down the gauntlet to Sir Keir Starmer in a fresh nightmare for Labour after the Left-wing firebrand warned she could oppose the Government on key issues.
The party whip was withdrawn from the Hackney MP in the last parliament for after she claimed Irish, Jewish and Traveller people were not subject to racism “all their lives”.
Her comments were branded as “deeply offensive” by Labour grandee Dame Margaret Hodge – but the whip was restored just before the General Election after months of uncertainty about her future.
Now, in a defiant Newsnight interview, the 70-year-old declared she was not afraid of the whip being withdrawn again as she suggested she was prepared to oppose the party on some issues.
“I’ve got no doubt there are going to be issues coming up where I will again find myself in opposition to my government,” she warned.
Asked by interviewer Victoria Derbyshire if she feared being suspended again, Ms Abbott dismissed the suggestion by saying: “No no no – they took it away from me once, if they want to do it again it’s up to them. Not fussed about it.”
Ms Abbott has already proved to be a headache for the Prime Minister as he tries to convince voters Labour has moved on from its hard-Left past.
She was a close ally and friend of Jeremy Corbyn, serving as his shadow home secretary before he lost the 2019 election and was later booted out of the party over antisemitism claims.
Sir Keir was branded as “ruthless” earlier this year after he suspended seven MPs who rebelled against his first King’s Speech over the issue of child tax credits. They have lost the whip for six months.
The move was believed to be aimed at demonstrating to other Labour MPs like Ms Abbott that the whips will take tough action against rebels in future.
Labour’s decision to remove the winter fuel allowance from most pensioners has also sparked controversy.
While no MPs rebelled, several did abstain on a parliamentary vote – though some of those might have been given permission to be absent.
In the same Newsnight interview, Ms Abbott slammed Sir Keir for not defending her more and treating her as a “non-person” over racist comments made by a Conservative donor.
Despite Tory donor Frank Hester apologising for saying she “should be shot”, Ms Abbott said she wished there had been “more support” from the Labour Party.
A Labour spokesman 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.”
