Reinstated Labour lawmaker draws fire over Russia remarks

British Labour Party MP Dianne Abbot, who has been suspended from the party twice in connection with alleged antisemitism, is facing fresh backlash after her reinstatement and promotion, this time for downplaying Russian aggression in Ukraine and Europe.

Abbott, who was readmitted to Labour just last week following the second suspension, wrote about Russia while presiding as Labour whip, a post whose duties include enforcing party discipline in votes in the House of Commons, the lower house of the British parliament. She was restored as Labour whip under British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who replaced Keir Starmer last month as Labour leader and as prime minister.

Writing in the Morning Star, Abbott recently described the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a “Nato campaign against Russia” and argued that the recent push for increased military expenditure stemmed from political pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump rather than military threats.

U.K. Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said that Abbott’s reinstatement showed Burnham was “desperate to appease Labour’s hard Left.”

Undermining the security of Nato allies “when Putin is waging war in Europe, assaulting our democratic values and the territorial integrity of sovereign nations, Burnham’s decision shows where his true beliefs lie, and is a dereliction of all standards and values,” said Patel.

British Jews had also raised concerns following the reinstatement of Abbott, an ally of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, wrote in a July 30 statement that Abbott’s suspensions—the first one, in 2023, was for downplaying antisemitism compared to anti-black racism—happened in “a context where the Jewish community is experiencing historically high levels of antisemitism, including the murder of two Jews last October at Heaton Park Synagogue.”

This is “an early test of resolve for the Burnham administration,” Rosenberg wrote. He added: “It is hard to conceive of the whip being restored unless there is clear and sustained evidence of genuine remorse, a proper understanding of why those comments were so hurtful, and an unequivocal recognition that antisemitism is racism. While people can learn from their mistakes, Diane Abbott’s past record is not encouraging in this regard.”

Keir Starmer replaced Corbyn in 2020 as the head of Labour, which Starmer promised to make inhospitable to thousands of antisemites drawn to the party by Corbyn, a radical left-wing politician. Burnham is widely considered to be on the left of Starmer on many issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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