Diane Abbott’s Labour suspension must be resolved ‘as swiftly as possible’, says minister – UK politics live | Politics

Minister calls for Abbott suspension to be ‘resolved as swiftly as possible’

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of UK politics. We’re now in recess but we’ll still be bringing you all the news from across the country including continued reaction to the suspension of Diane Abbott.

This morning, a minister has denied the veteran MP’s assertion that “it is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out”.

Exchequer secretary to the Treasury James Murray told Times Radio:

That’s absolutely not the case.

What’s happened is Diane has made some comments which come on the back of previous comments which she made and for which she apologised some time ago.

He added that there was an internal investigation and “we now need to let this process play out” so it can be resolved “as swiftly as possible”.

Abbott now faces an investigation over her defence of remarks more than two years ago that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives”, which was different from the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

In a statement to Newsnight on Thursday evening, Abbott said: “It is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview … were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept.”

In the interview with the BBC earlier on Thursday, Abbott, the first black woman elected to parliament, had 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.”

In other news:

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John Swinney has pledged to “turn the heat up” on the UK government to allow a second independence referendum as part of his latest strategy to achieve separation.

Writing in the National newspaper on Friday, the Scottish first minister pledged to increase support for Scotland leaving the UK and stressed the importance of supporters of independence backing the SNP at next year’s Holyrood election.

Since the first vote in 2014, successive UK governments have repeatedly turned down calls for a second referendum, with the UK Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that only Westminster can allow another poll, PA reported.

The first minister pledged to mobilise support around the calling of another vote, though prime minister Keir Starmer is extremely unlikely to back down.

The first point of the three-part plan outlined by Swinney – who has been feeling some pressure since the SNP lost in June the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election to up his push for independence – focuses on increasing support for leaving the UK.

“First, it will be a campaign designed to build the highest levels of support possible for independence as the best future for Scotland,” he wrote.

“I will be saying to those who voted Yes in 2014, and who have become independence supporters in the years since, that what they believed in then is just as valid today.

“They saw that Britain was fundamentally broken, that Westminster couldn’t deliver on their dreams and aspirations, and what they saw has come to pass. And now it is time to do something about it.

“But I will also be urging people who were not persuaded of the merits of independence in 2014 to see the state of Britain today and take a different view.”

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