Abbott says choice of school is a race issue

Labour's Diane Abbott has admitted that party activists who are angry at her decision to send her 12-year-old son to a private school could force her to stand down as an MP.

The left-winger told the Sunday Mirror the controversy surrounding her choice of school for her own child would play into the hands of critics who wanted to oust her as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

Ms Abbott's decision caused outrage as she had criticised Tony Blair and the Solicitor General, Harriet Harman, for sending their children to selective schools.

She told the newspaper: "I know I've delivered myself on a plate to my enemies and there's no doubt my career is on the line. It would not surprise me if local party members were discussing my removal. They might want me to stand down as their MP and I will understand if they do. I don't know whether my political career is over, but accept that people are angry, and I will have to deal with that.

"I suppose the principled thing to do would have been to send my son to a failing state school, however bad it was. But I'm sorry, I just don't possess that level of principle."

One reason she gave for not sending James to a local comprehensive school was race.

"I do know the issues around the education of black boys in this borough. I've seen what happens to black boys who get caught up in the culture of the street. It's hard to pull them back. It is a race issue because, of all the ethnic groups in London's schools, the only group that is falling behind is black boys," she said.