Diane Abbot in Hackney Downs Park (Picture: Thabo Jaiyesimi/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
I’ll always remember when I first started working with Diane Abbott.
It was in the early 80s, when Diane would attend meetings of London’s Caribbean Diaspora, who gathered to discuss the recent invasion of Grenada by the US.
I’d only returned to the UK two years earlier, having had most of my secondary education in that country – my parents moved there when I was 13.
As a campaigner, I was 10 years younger than Diane, and I couldn’t believe it when, in the meeting, I saw this beautiful, stylish and highly educated woman.
I was in awe of Diane Abbot then and I am now. I looked up to her, and I still do.
That’s why I’m so upset with her shoddy treatment by the Labour Party, with sources close to the leadership briefing that she has been barred from standing at the election, Keir Starmer denying that, and this trailblazing politician being left unsure of her standing.
She deserves better.
Sign up for Metro’s politics newsletter
Not sure what to make of the General Election? Ask Alright, Gov?, Metro’s brand new politics newsletter.
We’ll be following the battle for No 10 in our weekly dispatch, bringing you easy-to-read breakdowns and straightforward analysis — Metro style.
Sign up here to get your copy sent directly to your inbox each week, or join us on WhatsApp for daily updates as the election madness gets underway.
Diane was suspended in April 2023 after a letter to a newspaper in which she said Jewish, Irish people, and Travellers do not experience racism ‘all their lives’ – comments which she withdrew almost immediately and apologised for.
It is not acceptable that it has taken over a year to even partially resolve her case.
A few years on from our initial meeting, in 1986, I joined the London Borough of Hackney in its equalities department to work on a project to encourage wider registration on the electoral roll.
The following year, Diane was elected as an MP for the Hackney North constituency, and so our paths would regularly cross over the next two decades while I worked at the council.
Diane was a constant presence in my working life, remonstrating with the various departments I worked in, demanding better services for her constituents, lobbying for better funding for groups, including one case I remember of a Jewish group in Stamford Hill who had lost their financial backing.
She was also passionate about trying to ensure that the borough’s regeneration programmes benefited all, especially the communities who had lived in Hackney for decades, and many thought were being sidelined as the area became gentrified.
As a long-standing MP, Diane should be able to end her career on her own terms, and this mystery surrounding her candidacy is troubling.
If Diane wants to stand as a Labour candidate, if she wants to resign, or if she wants to do something else, she should have the support of her party.
Jacqueline attended a rally for Diane at Hackney Town Hall (Picture: Kristian Buus/In Pictures via Getty Images)
Just like she has the support of her community. I saw firsthand how popular she is locally when I attended a rally in Hackney this year called to show her solidarity when a Tory donor allegedly made racist and misogynistic comments towards her.
But sadly there’s mistreatment in her own party too. Just last week we heard Keir Starmer and other senior Labour officials insist that an investigation was ongoing, yet now we learn that the process concluded in December.
Diane, and frankly all of us, need clarification on this process, and a clear explanation of who knew what and when.
It seems that at no point has Diane been kept in the loop, and that is shameful.
And it is concerning that other MPs accused of breaking Labour Party rules have had their cases resolved much quicker, like Andy McDonald, who lost the whip for around six months after using a pro-Palestine slogan at a protest, or Rupa Huq, who lost the whip for a similar period after describing then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as ‘superficially black.’
It seems apparent that this lack of due process, with a hint of duplicity, is designed to show a degree of ruthlessness, with the Starmer faction keen to shake off any vestiges of the Corbyn era with which Diane is associated.
But not only has Diane Abbott been a politician for far longer than the four years Jeremy Corbyn was leader, the party is supposed to pride itself on being a broad church.
Diane, left, supported former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (Picture: Phil Lewis/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
You’d expect the Labour Party to treat its first Black female parliamentary representative with greater dignity and respect than appears to be the case.
The mistreatment, the leaks, the mischaracterisation, the implication that she is antisemitic, is very disturbing, especially when you think of her legacy, and her historical importance to both the party and the country.
I know firsthand that Diane is extremely strong despite the abuse and overt racism she has suffered – with almost a third of abusive tweets sent to MPs directed at her.
No matter what has been thrown at her, she has gone on to serve her constituents well.
She said to me recently that she has put up with much, but it has never stopped her working, serving and smiling.
Her story is categorised by one of abuse and racism and I am surprised therefore that Labour has been willing to potentially add fuel to the fire.
Despite her steel, she is clearly shaken and hurt by the events of the past two days. You can only be strong for so long.
There’s so much more to Diane than what most people see (Picture: Phil Lewis/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Keir Starmer and the wider Labour Party need to reflect carefully on this matter.
I remember a recent experience that sums up Diane. I went to Sheffield with her sometime last year to meet with the team running the Windrush Compensation Scheme and on the train coming back, after another day spent fighting for her community, she cracked a cheeky can.
It felt almost like an homage to the ridiculous attempt to create a scandal over her infamous mojito on the underground.
She laughed haughtily as I remember her doing back in the 1980s.
Most people think of Diane as some deadly serious caricature of left wing politics, but there’s so much more to her, like her love of the arts, good music, good food, and good people.
I was delighted that she chose to attend my 60th birthday party and was relieved she could let her hair down.
She is many things to many people, and has given decades of service to her party, her community, and her country.
I hope that whatever happens, Diane will be able to enjoy a mojito, write her memoirs, and find a role that suits her.
No matter how shoddily Labour have treated this trailblazer, she has an enormous amount to give – and she is worth so much more than those who denigrate her.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk.
Share your views in the comments below.