Diane Abbott's collapse is complete

[quote]In the letter, she wrote that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people "undoubtedly experience prejudice", which she said is "similar to racism". She continued: "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. In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus. In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote. And at the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships."

[quote]Ms Abbott's letter prompted a backlash, including from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which described it as "disgraceful" and her apology "entirely unconvincing".

I loved her in "New York, New York." Maybe she give show biz another try!

*

The transparent lie that it was a draft is ridiculous - so why didn't she show the intended letter, if it exists? Why was she even writing at all? Obvious answer, I suppose, as this particular strand of Labour's left self-destructs when it sees the word Jew - Livingston, Corbyn and now Abbott. Still it does Starmer a huge favour.

I miss the era when she was on Andrew Neil's show arguing with Michael Portillo - "This Week" I think it was called. BBC was crazy to cancel it.

Anyway... I swear I remember being taught in school (1960s) that there were three human races - Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Negroid. The terms aren't kosher any more but I sort of get what she's saying. Black people always ALWAYS get the brunt of the stick, as a "race". Then sometime later I find out there aren't just three races... who knows how many? 10, 50, 100?

Hang in there, Diane! Get on the back of that motorcycle again with your old boyfriend Jeremy Corbin and do a travel series for ITV. (might need to find one with an extra wide seat these days)

Dianne at her most erudite.

American wokesters have been saying this for years. I don’t know how many little white girls have tried to convince me of this. And “black people can’t be racist!”

What did she say that is untrue?!

Lol, I thought, "Wow, she really let herself go!"

Then realized this isn't about DeNiro's ex-wife.

Is her son still terrorizing people? Hopefully he doesn’t still want to kill her while on meth induced binges.

Just brutal @ r6. She's a blithering idiot

I no longer find her attractive!

Diane says quite stupid things at times, especially when under pressure, but I think she's far from the worst MP we have in the UK. And I'm Irish so I forgive her for that part.

I used to think a lot of criticism aimed at her was unjustified, and motivated by racism and misogyny, but this is beyond offensive and idiotic.

Even for a draft, it's terrible. There are lots of other examples that disprove her argument but the most glaring one is how the hell did she manage to overlook the Holocaust which specifically targeted millions of Jews as a race for genocide. (It also targeted Romani people/gypsies which I assume is what she means by Traveller people.)

It's so weird how the far left is so racist when it comes to Jews while obsessing about racism when it comes to most other ethnic minorities.

Looking a bit rough, no wonder Robert DeNiro dumped her!

I can see where the thread of thought was going, maybe she should have said something as simple as non-white people can't escape it as it's an immediate visible difference. Even then to suggest that racism comes in degrees is misguided

[quote]Is her son still terrorizing people? Hopefully he doesn’t still want to kill her while on meth induced binges.

Diane's son is locked up in a mental institution where he can attack the staff.

[quote]I can see where the thread of thought was going, maybe she should have said something as simple as non-white people can't escape it as it's an immediate visible difference. Even then to suggest that racism comes in degrees is misguided

Where was she going?

People think Diane is stupid because there have been a few interviews where she's stumbled her words, a bit like Joe Biden. But she's incredibly clever, far superior in intellect to Jeremy Corbyn, and genuinely believes the positions she takes.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine last year she was filming videos blaming NATO for their aggression. She isn't a Putin apologist because she's ignorant, she's a Putin apologist because she genuinely believes NATO have provoked Russia. She doesn't back Russia because she's lacking intelligence, she's backing Russia because that's her world view.

Diane is very conflicted that her BFF Jeremy won't be able to stand as a Labour candidate at the next election. If he stands as an independent or for his own party then his old comrades like Diane will be expelled from Labour if they support him.

Holy shit at the wig at OP!

And when Labour MPs and party members first raised issues about anti Jewish sentiment in Labour being normalised by Corbyn, Diane was furious, denouncing her comrades as "smearing" Jeremy. Andrew Marr was so angry I thought he was going to have another stroke.

The report mentioned in the video is the "independent" report by Shami Chakrabarti. Shami was started her "Independent" investigation in April 2016, published it in June 2016 and was given a peerage and shadow cabinet job in August 2016.

Poor thing can't manage her own bangs properly, how in the world is she supposed to manage a party?

[Quote] r13 Diane says quite stupid things at times, especially when under pressure, but I think she's far from the worst MP we have in the UK. And I'm Irish so I forgive her for that part.

After hearing her interview ar r6, that's downright scary. We have some morons here in Canada too don't get me wrong, but this bitch is absurd. Downright comical.

I went off her over her hypocrisy of sending her son to a fee-paying school.

R6 "They will cost... It will cost... um... about... about... 80 million pounds". You could tell she was either being passed the figure by someone else, or trying to calculate it herself.

She reminds me of an incompetent work colleague of mine. I can tell he's bullshitting, everyone else can tell he's bullshitting, but he still carries on doing it anyway.

Hard to believe that she has a first class degree in history from Cambridge. But then again, these things are really about values or - as Abbott likes to say - *prejudice*. Hence the Ted Cruzes, Ron DeSantises and Diane Abbotts.

[quote]I went off her over her hypocrisy of sending her son to a fee-paying school.

Abbott putting her role as a parent before her role as a politician is one of the few truly admirable things she's done in her career. And yes she's a total hypocrite for wanting to deny other people right to have that option.

It says a lot a about Harriet Harman's innate decency that she was one of the first people to support Abbott when the backlash came, despite Abbott having publicly criticised Harman (and Tony Blair) for sending their kids to selective state schools.

As R27 says, the particularly annoying thing about her sending her son to a top public school was it all came up as a result of her publicly criticising Tony Blair for sending his children to an 'elite' school that was nevertheless part of the state system. Her defence of 'I'm a West Indian mother and we will always do the best for our kids' did her no favours, like other mothers don't. Her capacity to think things through is terrible, which is why I don't agree that she is intelligent at all. She can't frame a logical argument, doesn't consider the consequences through and usually just reels out cliche-speak. And so often she gets into these messes when she didn't need to say anything at all, the current situation being a case in point. I said above it's like a Pavlovian reaction to anything to do with Jews in this strand of the Left - it got Livingston and Corbyn barred and will now do it for her.

[quote] Abbott putting her role as a parent before her role as a politician is one of the few truly admirable things she's done in her career.

Why? It actually speaks of weakness and hypocrisy. I would admire someone who sent their kid to a state school more. Let's remember that Abbott went to a state school herself but got into Cambridge. I did too (albeit Oxford). Many people can. The only real reason for private education is to make contacts, I think, and get an advantage from that.

[quote]Why? It actually speaks of weakness and hypocrisy. I would admire someone who sent their kid to a state school more. Let's remember that Abbott went to a state school herself but got into Cambridge. I did too (albeit Oxford). Many people can. The only real reason for private education is to make contacts, I think, and get an advantage from that.

Her son was being bullied horribly. Partly because of him being "soft" (gay) and partly because of who his mother was. He didn't want to go to the local schools and wanted to go to a private school.

Diane Abbott ultimately did what was best for her son and worst for her reputation. A lot of politicians would put their ideology first.

Compare that to Jeremy Corbyn and one of his wives who split up because she wanted to send one of their sons to a grammar school and he was opposed on principle.

She has coasted along unchallenged by people in the Labour part who wanted her unassailable status as the first Black woman MP to rub off on them. Even when she said stupid things, and she has said many stupid things, she got a free ride from the leadership.

There is definitely a problem of anti-Semitism in the party, especially at constituency level. There are many members who cannot distinguish between the state of Israel’s actions, and ordinary British Jews.They are so easily triggered and hysterical that they are unable to step back from their prejudice. Diane Abbott has a massive ego and tries to ingratiate herself with whatever audience she can find. She has bitten off more than she can chew this time. If she had any conscience she would go now.

[quote]There is definitely a problem of anti-Semitism in the party, especially at constituency level.

At the peak of Corbynism someone tweeted an agenda for the local Labour Party meeting, It read something like.

1. Palestine

2. Smears of anti semitism

3. Attacks on Corbyn from Zionist Labour members

4. Venezuela

5. Mossad influence in London police force

6. NATO aggression

7. Boycotts against Marks & Spencer

8. traffic light failures on High Street

Story about Corbyn marriage collapsing over school choice.

Abbott sending her son to a private school is one thing and not necessarily a bid deal; its became a big deal when she criticised her party leader for sending his kids to a selective, but still state, school. This was was a mammoth act of hypocrisy and also massively stupid, given her own position. Obviously it would get blowback! It's her constant lack of self-awareness and seeming belief that she is beyond criticism hat causes these things to happen.

How old is her son because he looks early 30s. He is also HIV positive. Sad train wreck.

She's the Don Lemon of Labour politics.

Abbott's son was born in 1992.

He's had severe addiction related mental health problems.

Small wonder with that mother.

Far be it from me to criticize someone based on their appearance but it looks like she has her wig on backwards in OP’s pic.

Diane is the UK's Gerry Fleck

Happen Diane had had a few tins when she sent the letter. Twice.

The draft story is an obvious lie, but she knows she won't be seriously called on it (though a few people have suggested she shows the 'intended' one), like the 'migraine' excuse she pulled after one of her disasterviews.

Did her wig slip in OP pic? I’m trying to figure out what’s going on there.

She cut her own bangs, that's what's going on there.

Why would a draft letter make this any better as presumably the main thrust of the argument would still be there, unless Irish travellers and Jews were just place holders til they landed on less-discriminated-against-minorities ?

It doesn't. She's stupid. She does stupid things. She can't even effectively lie her way out of exposing herself. Diane Abbott is one of those awful politicians who gets cover because she's been around forever and she's a useful idiot for media. She's like Miz Lindsay or Bernie or Who am I Feinstein?

Al Roker in a tragic wig.

Meth head son charged with exposing himself and spitting on police officers.

Spouting lies and then backpedaling on a very public forum.

Sounds good. We have a time slot to fill.

She has resting bitch face to be sure. Or resting utterly-pissed-off-and-bored-with-life face.

Diane looks much better without the fringe.

Diane Abbott is a dunce. At Cambridge, she only received a Lower Second-Class Honours, the lowest level.

When Abbott left school only 6% of kids went to University.

For her to get to Cambridge with her working class background was very impressive. And a 2:2 was perfectly respectable.

In the 1970s only a third of students got a 2:1 or a First. Now it's over 70%.

The woman has become an embarrassment but she was clearly a very capable student.

A third is the lowest one you can get as well. Or is there an even lower simple 'pass' grade?

R6 is hilarious.

This buffoon was Corbyn's Sex-Pillow and the taxpayers continue to pay for her buffoonery.

[quote] But she's incredibly clever, far superior in intellect to Jeremy Corbyn

That's not nice comparing her to fool.

[quote] But she's incredibly clever

Can you cite one instance of this 'cleverness'?

My experience is that people tend to conflate being clever with values but they're very much separate - you can be clever but have the 'wrong' values e.g. a smart psychopath who just thinks that life is about looking after your own interests and fuck anyone or anything else. Clever people can still be racist, sexist, etc.

R50 is an idiot. Sad.

Diane Abbott has always sounded special needs. She’s beyond an embarrassment. I know she was fucking Jeremy Corbyn back in the day. How this woman even made it through school is a mystery. She’s simply not all there.

Her charity is now under investigation.

Abbott has had some form of cognitive impairment recently but as recent as 2014 she was coherent and articulate.

There are stories that she became alcohol dependent when dealing with the stress of a front bench role under Corbyn and the trauma of being attacked by her son and his total mental breakdown.

Here she is in 2014 championing gay marriage, skip to 2.55

This buffoon on our TV screens is as exaggerated, outrageous, excessive, extraordinary and overblown as Edna Everage.

This buffoon is a liability as a politician.

I recall attacks on Lipstick Alley of Corbyn and Labour throwing her to the wolves with the responsibilities they loaded onto her. She received very little support from the party. I’ve also heard she now has a drink problem and that it dates from her stressful front bench days.

Does this idiot realize travellers aren’t a thing in the USA?

The liability tells the notorious Cathy Newman that she was, in fact, a liability a full decade ago.

[quote] Diane says quite stupid things … but I think she's far from the worst MP we have…

Who is the worst?

R28 is a good analysis.

[quote] How old is her son because he looks early 30s. He is also HIV positive. Sad train wreck.

She was never up to a front bench post. It was het turn to stand for the leadership as the Left's standard bearer after Brown stood down (MacDonald had done it before and Corbyn did it next). Ed Milliband won of course and afterwards he gave her a front bench post, but she was dropped very quickly for basically doing nothing and completely failing to master her brief.

R67 She was a frontbencher under Corbyn.

[quote[Does this idiot realize travellers aren’t a thing in the USA?

Why would she? She is British. You Americans see everything from an US-lens.

[quote] She’s beyond an embarrassment. I know she was fucking Jeremy Corbyn back in the day.

No, dear, R57.

It's the man who goes into the woman.

Does anyone know why her son left the Foreign Office? I have a friend who works for the FO and employment there is very prestigious. Equally, why did he leave his job at HewardMills? Sacked?

I think understand that point she might have be trying to make.

I think it's that the way she's experienced racism and perceive it happening is that there isn't a single country, culture or society on the planet where people of African descent/black people are systematically discriminated against, reviled and oppressed, there are of course exceptions.

There are a significant minority, in the communities she mentioned l, who would be just as racist against black people as white people, of not worse.

Yes, I've heard of Rwanda. And no, I don't believe black people can't be racist, they're just not in a position of power to express it as often.

[quote]Does anyone know why her son left the Foreign Office? I have a friend who works for the FO and employment there is very prestigious. Equally, why did he leave his job at HewardMills? Sacked?

He's became addicted to meth through chemsex parties.

[quote] Imagine sitting down at your computer and writing a letter comparing the persecution of Jews to the daft piss-taking faced by ginger people. Imagine breezily pooh-poohing the idea that Jewish people experience ‘racism’, and actually putting the word ‘racism’ in scare quotes like that, to really drive home the unhinged idea that racial animus against Jews is a myth.

[quote]I think understand that point she might have be trying to make. I think it's that the way she's experienced racism and perceive it happening is that there isn't a single country, culture or society on the planet where people of African descent/black people are systematically discriminated against, reviled and oppressed, there are of course exceptions.

She stated that Jews weren't oppressed because of their race, and gave slave ships, Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela as examples of why.

As one Jewish commentator put it, yes Rosa Parks had to sit at the back of the bus, his relatives in Germany were banned from using public transport under the Nazis, until they were herded onto trains and sent to their deaths.

Abbott represents Hackney, which has a sizable Jewish population and is seeing an increase in anti Jewish attacks. She knows secular atheist Jews are targeted with abuse because they look like Jews.

And the EHRC, set up by Labour, found Labour guilty of harassment of Jews, recently investigated holiday firm Pontins after staff were given lists of surnames associated with travellers and told to block bookings from them.

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

As an American, who's heard, conservative politicians say things a million times worse and suffer no repercussions, I'm failing to grasp what she said that is so offensive. All of the reactions to her comments seem very out of proportion to what she said.

Your point, r76/r75?

Welcome to the BUT ISRAEL poster.

We're discussing European Jews, not Israel, but thanks for your input.

Why does her hair look backwards?

She's as bald as Alastair Sim.

Yes, of course I know she was a Corbyn front bencher, R67. My point was she had already fucked up in such a position and should never have been given another. But Corbyn was just like Johnson - valuing loyalty above basic competence.

[quote]As an American, who's heard, conservative politicians say things a million times worse and suffer no repercussions, I'm failing to grasp what she said that is so offensive. All of the reactions to her comments seem very out of proportion to what she said.

SHE SAID JEWS DON'T EXPERIENCE RACISM AND COMPARED ANTI JEWISH RACISM TO ANTI GINGER PREJUDICE.

JEWS. The people who less than a 100 years ago were stripped of human rights, rounded up, shot, gassed, burned, starved, tortured, exterminated based on their RACE. 6 million Jews in Europe murdered because of their race. Not their religion, not their culture, their race.

Diane Abbott said in her letter that Jews had never been made to sit at the back of the bus or denied the right to vote. Diane Abbott was born in 1953, 8 years after Auschwitz was liberated. The Jews at Auschwitz had no possessions. Their homes had been confiscated. Many countries didn't want to give the survivors asylum.

Of course there are differences between anti black/anti African racism and anti Jewish racism, but the similarities are too obvious to ignore: white Europeans thinking other races are less than human and should treated like animals: Black Africans like cattle and Jews like rats.

[quote]Yes, of course I know she was a Corbyn front bencher, [R67]. My point was she had already fucked up in such a position and should never have been given another. But Corbyn was just like Johnson - valuing loyalty above basic competence.

The overwhelming majority of Labour MPs refused to serve in Corbyn's shadow cabinet.

Corbyn accepted any old shite on his front bench, even appointed Kelvin Hopkins to a shadow cabinet role when Corbyn had been told that Hopkins had been accused of sexual assault.

To think back to the 2019 general election Boris Johnson skipped a couple of tv debates and sent Rishi Sunak instead. Corbyn sent Rebecca Long Bailey and Richard Burgon. Those two cretins make Diane look formidable.

No they don't, R85. They never had headline-making disaster interviews like Diane did. They were just low-key crap. Diane was/is always a major accident waiting to happen and needs damage control standing by on full alert.

Rebecca Long Bailey was sacked by Starmer for promoting an interview with Maxine Peake where she linked the murder of George Floyd to Israel.

Richard Burgon was proven to be a liar with his "Zionists are the enemy of peace" rant and is considered a huge joke with his Kay Burley interviews being a particular highlight.

Diane Abbott has descended into a bad joke but she was an effective opposition politician for many years, including when Labour was in government. It's sad to see what she has become.

Baby, she threw that wig on like a hat when she left the house.

Being clad all in red like that is such a power move, it signals to the world you're prepared to do most anything to reach the top. Unfortunately, it won't protect you from getting cancelled when it's your time.

We saw the likes of Rank-Broadly, Burgon and the god-awful Barry Gardiner so much in the Corbyn years precisely because neither Abbott or Corbyn himself could be trusted or were prepared to do interviews. MacDonald and Thornberry (and indeed Starmer, though they didn't let him do much) were pretty much the only safe pairs of senior hands they had.