The Mysterious Canonisation of Diane Abbott

Unlike the rest of the media, I confess I’m not troubled by the much-publicised ‘racist’ and ‘sexist’ remarks made about Diane Abbott by Tory party donor Frank Hester – namely, that she makes you “hate all black women”, and that she “should be shot”. In fact, I don’t care about them at all. Yes, I said it. Before you reach for the DIY lynch mob kit amid cries of ‘privileged white male’ (notice what you did there?), hear me out a moment: you don’t care about them either. Because if we’re talking racism and sexism, that’s the stock-in-trade of any competent leftwing activist; society simply deems their targets unworthy of defence. 

I suspect you were not equally exercised about Bahar Mustafa’s exhortation to “Kill all white men”, nor that she managed to remain in post in the aftermath; Miriam Margoyles’ admission that she wanted Boris Johnson “to die” of coronavirus, and John McDonnell’s charming suggestion with regards to Esther McVey: “why don’t we Lynch the bitch?” If outrage is selective in a supposed egalitarian society, such egalitarianism deserves questioning.

After all, the left reliably manages to see the funny side of such exchanges whenever its preferred target is in sight (the whiter and maler the better) – so what’s so special this time? Granted, Abbott is black, female and leftwing – the victimhood trifecta, which some clearly believe should afford her immunity not just from attack, but also from critique. That’s just as well, seeing as she is far from an innocent abroad – customarily denigrating political opponents precisely along the lines of race and gender. 

Was it a joke when she stated during the last Labour Party leadership election, “The idea that we will stand by and deliver a pale, male and stale future leadership contest, then you are having a laugh”? Was it not noteworthy when she tweeted “White people love playing ‘divide and rule’”? Was it not revealing that she described David Cameron and Nick Clegg as “Two posh white boys”?  

If you want me to care about the Abbott furore, you need to make a concession about the nature of the game we’re playing: either A) Britain now operates a two-tier caste system whereby white people are not allowed a voice – I’d like that stated openly, or B) you don’t care about Diane either, but her victimhood status lends itself to commercialisation (‘woke’ in the vernacular). Might I suggest to you a surprising C) lets not overdramatise abuse, unless it translates into action – what we used to call ‘crime’.

It should not be the job of society to dictate whom we are permitted to dislike and on what grounds, although I can’t help feeling that hating Abbott on the basis of her identity – thereby overlooking the bounteous gobbledegook she so effortlessly produces, bears all the logic of dating Marilyn Monroe for the conversation. Personally, I despise Abbott in much the same way I despise Jeremy Corbyn. But, as in the case of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, no one ever cares about that side of the ledger. If Hester had voiced the desire to shoot Corbyn, or claimed the former Labour leader made him want to hate all white, bearded old fools, no one would have batted an eyelid.

Moreover, I seriously doubt anyone pontificating on Hester’s language genuinely believes he was serious. No one attending the meeting evidently did, otherwise voicing concerns in the run-up to a general election, five years after the fact smacks of calculation rather than compassion. Were Hester’s remarks serious instead of crass, I’d not only question his sanity but also his commitment to the cause – he’s not made much progress in half a decade, has he?

While I remain indifferent to Hester’s words, I confess an interest in the fallout from them – specifically, the extent to which Abbott’s victimhood is now being monetised. For Abbott herself, the price of forgiveness is clearly a road back into the Labour fold – hurt feelings somehow absolving her from her own racism; for allies like Corbyn, it’s the demand that we take her every utterance as Gospel (scrapping Trident, surrendering to the IRA and paying the Old Bill £30 a year clearly a fair price for not being racist); and for Keir Starmer, it’s the jubilant hope that Conservative coffers will be denuded to the tune of £10million; big business then, masquerading as outrage.  

Unlike my colleagues, I’m less concerned with words than deeds. If Hester truly believes Abbott deserves to be shot, let him say so and be condemned out of his own mouth. Where I think we’d do better to focus our outrage, is the actual violence playing out on our streets. Perhaps we could draw the line at Jews being attacked simply for being Jewish in London? Maybe the justification that child rape victims are “white slags” merits more column inches? And possibly the borders could be secured, before we are overwhelmed by an ideology that prefers brutal murder to integration? That’s quite enough ‘racism’ and ‘sexism’ to be getting on with surely?

Frank Haviland is the author of Banalysis: The Lie Destroying the West, and writes a Substack here.

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