Diane Abbott accuses Labour of hypocrisy after it uses race row to fundraise for donations

Exclusive: The MP, who was suspended by Labour last year, accused Sir Keir Starmer’s party of double standards after an email plea was sent to members following the row asking for donations

Diane Abbott has accused Labour of double standards after the party was accused of using the Tory donor race row to boost its own funding - despite her being suspended.

The Labour Party’s campaign team sent an email to members, saying it was “fuming” after the Conservative Party refused to return a £10m donation from business tycoon Frank Hester over allegedly racist remarks he made about Ms Abbott.

The message then asked for handouts “to close the huge fundraising gap between us and the Tories”.

But the MP, who was a Labour MP for more than three decades until she was suspended last year, hit out at the “extraordinary” email amid the party leadership’s refusal to restore the whip, adding: “Hypocritical barely covers it.”

She said: "I am currently suspended from the Labour Party. I have called out the double standards of my treatment compared to supporters of the leadership and the Forde Report itemised abuse directed at me by serving officers of the party.

The letter calls for donations to close the ‘huge fundraising gap’ between Labour and the Tories (Independent)

“Then they want to use renewed abuse against me as a fundraiser. Hypocritical barely covers it."

Ms Abbott says she has not received an apology after a 2022 report by lawyer Martin Forde on Labour’s internal culture found she had been the target of abuse by senior party officials.

The Hackney MP was suspended from the Labour party after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people had never been “subject to racism” in a letter to the Guardian.

The veteran MP apologised “unreservedly” for her remarks but has not had the whip returned despite calls from those within the party.

She has found herself at the centre of a major racism row in the Conservative party this week after the Guardian published allegations that the Tory donor said the veteran MP should be “shot” and that she makes him “want to hate all black people”

After the publication of the remarks, a statement from the healthcare technology firm the Phoenix Partnership (TPP) - which Mr Hester runs - said he “accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbott in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

Mr Sunak has refused to hand back the businessman’s £10m donation, after Sir Keir Starmer led the calls for the party to do so.

Ms Abbott then went on to accuse both parties of racism. Writing for The Independent, she said: “I am afraid long-term experience teaches me that the Tory party has long been a source of whipping up racism in this country, including directed at me personally.”

Diane Abbott has accused her former party of ‘hypocrisy’ following a fundraising plea circulated to members (PA Wire)

Turning on Sir Keir, she added: “The position of the current leadership of the Labour Party is disappointing, which seemed equally reluctant at the outset to call out either racism or sexism.

“Instead, the entire focus was on the demand that the Tories give Hester back his money, which is surely not the primary point in this case.”

Labour party member and self-love and empowerment coach Lynda Smith told the Independent the email left her “horrified”: “I read it several times because I thought I was misreading what I saw.

“I am asking myself, is Labour for me? How dare the Labour Party jump onto this story without defending Diane or even naming racism and misogyny?”

One Labour MP said the email was “breathtaking gaslighting”. “Diane’s never had an apology for the racism that was directed against her and never once received an apology from the party,” they told the Independent.

They added: “If not deliberate… then it’s an order of magnitude of ignorance and naivety beyond belief.”

Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, who is now a presenter on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, said Sir Keir should restore the whip to Ms Abbott as a show of support, while sitting MPs Dawn Butler, Harriet Harman and John McDonnell have all called for the whip to be restored.

Sir Keir Starmer will use a speech to set out his vision for the arts under a future Labour government (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

Sir Keir described Ms Abbott as a “trailblazer” during PMQs as he launched an attack on Rishi Sunak’s party for refusing to return the money.

The PM condemned Mr Hester’s alleged comments as “wrong” and “racist” but has refused to return the donation and repeatedly told MPs Mr Hester should have his “remorse” accepted.

Mr Hester has donated more than £10m to the Tories and in November gifted Mr Sunak the use of a helicopter for a political visit, valued at £15,000. His company has been in receipt of over £400m in public sector contracts.

The Labour party have been approached for comment.