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Tag: Diane Abbott

  • Cuts to welfare and aid go hand-in-hand with the war drive

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/cuts-welfare-and-aid-go-hand-hand-war-drive

    DIANE ABBOTT MP points out the false premises used by Rachel Reeves in the Spring Statement

    THERE is a liberal cliche that the first casualty of war is the truth. In reality it is usually the working class, the poor, disabled people and ethnic minorities.

    Typically, they face more pressure and exploitation, longer hours, higher prices or charges, they get less state support and face greater discrimination all as part of the war effort. Or, more accurately, the war effort is used as the excuse to implement long-desired changes which increase exploitation and discrimination of all kinds.

    That is what it is happening now.

    To give just one example, both the Chancellor and the Secretary for Work and Pensions separately have said many years ago that we should be tougher on welfare than the Tories.

    But it is only now, against the backdrop of the Ukraine war and the rhetoric of rearmament that that they are finally able to realise their ambitions.

    Tory commentators are amazed and admiring about the depth of the cuts to welfare. One called Rachel Reeves the new George Osborne

    This is true across the board. So it seems strange that many on the left are currently unwilling to link the war drive with the attacks on welfare and the cuts to international aid.

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/cuts-welfare-and-aid-go-hand-hand-war-drive

  • Justice Secretary slammed for interfering in judicial independence

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mahmood-interference-slammed-abbott

    Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood during the official opening of HMP Millsike – the new Category C jail in Yorkshire which will deliver 1,500 prison places, March 27, 2025

    JUSTICE Secretary Shabana Mahmood was slammed for interfering in judicial independence today after she blocked new sentencing guidelines designed to reduce racial disparities.

    Rebuking the minister, left MP Diane Abbott said there have been multiple reports highlighitng how black and ethnic minority people are treated unfairly by the justice system.

    She said: “There is a reason why the Sentencing Council is independent. It was made a statutory independent body to avoid even the appearance of ministerial interference.

    “This is not the United States. Our political system, our judicial system, are entirely separate.”

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mahmood-interference-slammed-abbott

  • We need a public inquiry on Britain’s role in war on Gaza

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    Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
    Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/13/we-need-a-public-inquiry-on-britains-role-in-war-on-gaza

    In the aftermath of the Iraq war, several attempts were made to establish an inquiry surrounding the conduct of British military operations. Published in 2016, the Chilcot inquiry found serious failings in the British government, which ignored the warnings of millions of ordinary people over its disastrous decision to go to war.

    History is repeating itself. Today, the death toll in Gaza has reportedly exceeded 61,000. Two Israeli officials are wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Britain has played a highly influential role in Israel’s military operations, including the sale of weapons, the supply of intelligence and the use of Royal Air Force bases in Cyprus.

    Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of democracy. Therefore we are demanding an independent, public inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israel’s military assault in Gaza. This inquiry should establish exactly what decisions have been taken, how they have been made and what consequences they have had. Any meaningful inquiry would require the full cooperation of ministers involved in decision-making processes since October 2023.

    Many people believe that the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law. These charges will not go away until there is an inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth.

    Jeremy Corbyn Independent Alliance, Brendan O’Hara Middle East spokesperson, Scottish National party, Carla Denyer Co-leader, Green party, Brian Leishman Scottish Labour, Diane Abbott Labour, Zarah Sultana Independent, Richard Burgon Labour

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/13/we-need-a-public-inquiry-on-britains-role-in-war-on-gaza

    UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
    UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE

  • Sunak’s ‘inhumane’ anti-refugee plans are a distraction from Tory failures, campaigners warn

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/sunaks-small-boat-plans-are-inhumane-and-distraction-tory-failures

    Government to launch bill to stop people arriving on small boats from claiming asylum

    CAMPAIGNERS and MPs have hit out at Rishi Sunak’s plans to make asylum claims for those who travel on small boats inadmissible, calling it “inhumane” and a distraction from government failures.

    The Prime Minister is expected to set out his government plans tomorrow which will also see migrants removed to a third country such as Rwanda and banned from returning or claiming citizenship.

    Mr Sunak previously said that “stopping the boats” is one of his five key priorities.

    …

    The government has made its hard-line approach on immigration known, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman last year describing the number of arrivals on the south coast as an “invasion” and that it was her “obsession” to see a deportation flight to Rwanda.

    …

    Former home secretary Diane Abbott said that the PM “must know that policy will not work.”

    The Labour MP tweeted: “It is simply a disgraceful ‘core vote’ strategy — because he has nothing else to fight the next general election with.”

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/sunaks-small-boat-plans-are-inhumane-and-distraction-tory-failures

  • Diane Abbott received half of all abusive tweets sent to women MPs

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    Image of Dianne Abbot

    by Emma Bean

    …

    The shadow home secretary experienced the vast majority of online abuse sent to women MPs, and had 10 times more abusive tweets sent to her than any other figure in the run up to the election. She also suffered eight times more abuse in the whole six month period which was analysed.

    The research, conducted by Amnesty International, looked at messages sent in the period between January 1 and June 8. In this time she received almost a third of all the abuse directed at women political figures.

    The list of the five female politicians who received the most abuse included two other Labour MPs, with Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, and Jess Phillips, chair of the women’s PLP, coming in third and fourth respectively. Joanna Cherry, SNP MP, got the second most abuse and Anna Soubry, Conservative MP for Broxtowe and a prominent Europhile, being placed fifth in the ranking.

    However, Abbott’s level of abuse far outstrips those mentioned, with the trailblazing Hackney North MP receiving 31.6 per cent of abusive tweets, and the rest of the top five getting nearer three per cent of abusive tweets. She also received more abusive tweets than all the women in the SNP and Conservative party combined in the six month period.

    Ethnic minority women politicians, excluding Abbott, received 35 per cent more abuse than white women. Some 5.8 per cent of all tweets sent mentioning Abbott’s twitter handle were classified as abusive.

    The report found that “intersectional discrimination” meant that a figure who had more than one identity, e.g. if LGBT, BAME or disabled, meant that they were then more likely to face abuse.

    In a New Statesman article describing the report, Amnesty’s researcher in technology and human rights Azmina Dhrodia writes: “Diane Abbott standing out in our analysis is an acute example of how intersectional discrimination works. The abuse that she faces is not just sexist and misogynistic; it’s also incredibly racist.”

    “Nearly 90 years after women won the right to vote, there is a real danger that the high levels of online abuse against women MPs will have a chilling effect on women taking part in public life  —  particularly women of colour. This is not only detrimental in terms of the possible long-term effect on the representation of women in politics in the UK but also continues to deepen societal inequality between genders.”

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