Is Diane Abbott in or out?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The drama in Westminster never seems to end. Last night the Times reported that the Labour party would not allow veteran MP Diane Abbott to represent the party at the upcoming general election. Abbott has reportedly been given the Labour whip back as a middle way, causing something of a backlash. Seeking to clarify the situation, Keir Starmer has today insisted that, 'no decision has been taken to bar Diane Abbot' and that 'she is a member of the parliamentary Labour party.' What's going on? Will she be standing?

James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and John McTernan, former political secretary to Tony Blair.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Transcript

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0:18.4	Hello and
0:22.8	welcome to Coffey House Shots. I'm James Heel and I'm joined today by Katie
0:25.8	balls and John Maternal and the former advisor to Tony Blair.
0:28.7	Now Katie, the big story of the morning today has been the row about Diane
0:32.4	Abbott and whether she was forced to not
0:34.2	stand again for labour and what's gone on there?
0:36.5	Yeah I would say it's a moving picture even though we are now some hours after the initial
0:41.6	story and the times broke. The Times reported on
0:45.0	Tuesday evening that Diabit had been blocked from standing as a labor
0:50.2	candidate. This really set the count amongst the pigeons. However I would point out you
0:54.9	know this has been a story we knew was coming because ever since Diane Abbott wrote a
1:00.0	letter to the observer suggesting that Jewish people along with travelers and
1:06.0	servers almost face a similar type of discrimination to ginger people in the
1:11.0	sense not day-to-day racism.
1:13.0	She has found herself in trouble with the Labour Party
1:16.0	and suspended and has had the whip removed.
	...

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