Diane Abbott says she has no regrets over comments that saw Labour suspend her

Labour MP Diane Abbott said she has no regrets about comments on racism which led to her being suspended by the party.

The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP was suspended by the Labour Party in 2023 after a writing a letter to the Observer comparing racism experienced by people of colour with that seen by other groups.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme, she said she did not look back on the incident with regret.

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.

Ms Abbott, who was readmitted to the party before the 2024 general election, 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.

“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.

“I don’t know why people would say that.”

She apologised for any anguished caused by the remarks which drew criticism from Jewish and Travellers groups.

The longest-serving female MP in the Commons, who entered Parliament in 1987, said she got a “bit weary” about people labelling her antisemetic and said she had “spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds”.

She said she was “grateful” to be a Labour MP but was sure the party leadership had been “trying to get me out”.