Britain’s first Black woman lawmaker, Diane Abbott, has said she had been barred from running as a Labour candidate in the upcoming UK general election after she was suspended more than a year ago for comments she made about Jews and racism.
Ms Abbott, who was first elected to parliament for Labour in 1987, was a close ally of the party’s former leader Jeremy Corbyn and was on the left wing of the party.
The former shadow home secretary was suspended last year after she sent a letter to the Observer newspaper in which she said the prejudice experienced by Jewish people was similar to, but not the same, as racism.
“They undoubtedly experience prejudice. This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable,” she wrote in the letter.
“It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice.
“But they are not all their lives subject to racism.”
Ms Abbott apologised “unreservedly” after the letter was published but was suspended from the party.
She told the BBC that she had been readmitted to the party, which is known as having the whip restored.
“Although the whip has been restored, I am banned from standing as a Labour candidate,” she said.
