[Philip Marlow]

Honestly, unlike that godawful letter to the Observer, the most disappointing thing about this Abbott tweet is that she's subsequently deleted it. Anderson is an utter prick who's simply willing to put in blunt 'man of the people' language what other people feel the need to couch in moderate-sounding euphemisms.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Yeah, very clear she was referring to what Anderson said. Less clear if the tweet is deleted.

[Boiler]

Even more so if she'd named him in the tweet.

[Youngian]

Diane’s language is salty but is expressing the righteous indignation many of us feel about pricks like Anderson. Pity she deleted it.

[kreuzberger]

Doing that T-hands thing, for a moment. When did aggressively foul language, unbecoming of a senior party official when commenting on an important matter, become "salty"?

Fuck that.

[Youngian]

Salt of the Earth chaps in the lower ranks can be vulgar but you can rely on them to do the dirty work. As you were, sergeant-major.

[davidjay]

Nobody does sanctimoniousness better than a bigot who sees someone else being an ist.

[Youngian]

I get that Diane is playing at being Mark Steel to Lee Anderson’s Bernard Manning but both those comics understood a prime time audience is different from their club audience. And so should politicians even more so.

[Philip Marlow]

I don't think Abbott's 'playing' at much of anything. I am not going to defend That Bloody Letter - not only is she old enough and bright enough to know better, but her own damn constituency includes an Orthodox Jewish community which is regularly targeted for antisemitic abuse, which is what made it really sting on a personal level - but it's entirely possible to be sincerely outraged by some forms of bigotry while being clumsy at best with regard to others. Trust me, there will be members of that aforementioned Orthodox community whose views on Arabs would bleach the average white supremacist's hair on the spot.

With regard to audience, I saw this earlier, and when you talk about stupidity...

If Anderson was coming in for significant heat I must admit I missed it. The kind of people (and I'm talking about journalists and media organisations here, not just randoms on social media) who are apt to be more upset by Abbott's tweet than what Anderson said to set it off, or by drowning refugees for that matter, are not likely to come round just because she might couch her rebuttal in more decorous language.

[Boiler]

Well, as expected in the DM comments:

Screenshot 2023-08-10 at 13-59-58 Diane Abbott slammed for saying drowned migrants 'indeed f off'.png (31.53 KiB) Viewed 8169 times

Screenshot 2023-08-10 at 14-01-27 Diane Abbott slammed for saying drowned migrants 'indeed f off'.png (18.23 KiB) Viewed 8169 times

Okay, I know that to read the Mail (and take it seriously) you have to be lobotomised, but would someone enlighten me as to why this merits "defunding the BBC"? Or are they just on glue?

[Watchman]

"The comments below have been moderated in advance" is being used more and more by the Heil

[Boiler]

"The comments below have been moderated in advance" is being used more and more by the Heil

Yes, I noticed that too.

[Spoonman]

I've said before that the only really effective way to either cut down or openly expose the likes of 33p** Lee is to throw their shit right back at time. Ms Abbot certainly has her faults especially concerning race relations, but she's spot on here in her measured f-strike. Jonathan Pie's "aim high all the time" mantra just hasn't worked well in the last decade on both sides of the Atlantic - it's nice to strive for, but sometimes you have to get dirty - real dirty as your opponents definitely don't have any scruples themselves. And there are times that you need to show that you're willing to unashamedly fight back.


**Now adjusted for inflation.

[soulboy]

I've said before that the only really effective way to either cut down or openly expose the likes of 33p** Lee is to throw their shit right back at time.


**Now adjusted for inflation.

A pedant writes -

The cost of a meal would presumably be at the much higher food price inflation level and even that wouldn't account for staples such as dry pasta seeing the largest spikes.

[mattomac]

Well, as expected in the DM comments:


Screenshot 2023-08-10 at 13-59-58 Diane Abbott slammed for saying drowned migrants 'indeed f off'.png


Screenshot 2023-08-10 at 14-01-27 Diane Abbott slammed for saying drowned migrants 'indeed f off'.png


Okay, I know that to read the Mail (and take it seriously) you have to be lobotomised, but would someone enlighten me as to why this merits "defunding the BBC"? Or are they just on glue?

It’s like one of those piss takes but this is genuine

[The Weeping Angel]

I don't think Abbott's 'playing' at much of anything. I am not going to defend That Bloody Letter - not only is she old enough and bright enough to know better, but her own damn constituency includes an Orthodox Jewish community which is regularly targeted for antisemitic abuse, which is what made it really sting on a personal level - but it's entirely possible to be sincerely outraged by some forms of bigotry while being clumsy at best with regard to others. Trust me, there will be members of that aforementioned Orthodox community whose views on Arabs would bleach the average white supremacist's hair on the spot.

With regard to audience, I saw this earlier, and when you talk about stupidity...

If Anderson was coming in for significant heat I must admit I missed it. The kind of people (and I'm talking about journalists and media organisations here, not just randoms on social media) who are apt to be more upset by Abbott's tweet than what Anderson said to set it off, or by drowning refugees for that matter, are not likely to come round just because she might couch her rebuttal in more decorous language.

Oh god nto Jonathan fucking Pie.

[Abernathy]

Abbott's decided it's time to kick off.

Diane Abbott has accused Labour of undertaking a "fraudulent" investigation into comments she made on racism that led to her losing the party whip earlier this year. The veteran MP claimed in a lengthy statement on X, previously Twitter, there was “no investigation”, Starmer’s swift public pronouncement of her “guilt” undermined it and that her local party had seen its elected leadership “decapitated” in a bid to replace her at the next election.

Abbott said in her statement on Tuesday that she had "remained silent about this issue until now... in the hope that some sense of decency and recognition of the tenets of natural justice might prevail". She argued that the "Labour Party disciplinary machine has clearly shown that it has little interest in either", adding: "There is a widespread sentiment that, as a Black woman, and someone on the left of the Labour Party, that I will not get a fair hearing from this Labour leadership."

A party spokesperson said it expects “the highest standards of behaviour from its elected representatives, and has introduced an independent complaints process to investigate cases", adding: "We do not give a running commentary on ongoing investigations." Abbott's statement unsurprisingly sparked anger from the left, with Momentum describing the long-serving MP's treatment as "nothing short of disgraceful", while Jeremy Corbyn described her case as the "latest stitch-up" and "yet another flagrant attack on local democracy".

But concerns raised by Abbott may cause disquiet further across the political spectrum, given her trail-blazing role as the UK's first Black female MP. Tony Blair’s political secretary John McTernan said at the time of her suspension that her apology should be "accepted in the spirit it is offered", while national vice-chair of the Jewish Labour Movement and Labour peer Ruth Anderson said Abbott’s political career shouldn’t "end like this".

Of course, Diane simply had to get that "as a Black woman" rubric in - just in case anybody hadn’t noticed that about her before.

[Andy McDandy]

Richard Pryor: "She's black?"

Gene Wilder: "She's a woman????"

[Tubby Isaacs]

She's a fool who doesn't realise it's time to go, same as Jez.

I'm not sure I'd follow through against her though. I cut her some slack for all the racist filth she has to put up with.

[Crabcakes]

I'm not sure I'd follow through against her though. I cut her some slack for all the racist filth she has to put up with.

This is what makes it so profoundly disappointing. She’s been through all that shit, had people no doubt tell her it was just a joke, or banter, or taken the wrong way, and *still* came out with a statement that made it clear she thinks only one type of racism counts and some people are milking it. And then of course offered the most bullshit-strewn excuse about ‘first drafts’.