'Not everyone is treated with such generosity': Diane Abbott lashes out at ... trends now
Diane Abbott today lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer for welcoming Tory defector Natalie Elphicke to Labour while she herself remains suspended from the party.
The veteran left-winger, who has been MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, has had the Labour whip withdrawn for more than a year.
She was suspended amid a probe into her comments about Jewish people in a letter to the Observer newspaper in April last year.
Ms Abbott issued a swift apology for her remarks, in which she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience 'prejudice' but are not 'subject to racism'.
But she is still having to sit as an independent MP in the House of Commons as the long-running investigation continues.
The former shadow home secretary drew a comparison between her own treatment by Labour and that of Ms Elphicke, whose defection has sparked a party backlash.
Ms Abbott said Ms Elphicke was 'right to apologise' for past comments in which she appeared to blame victims after her husband Charlie Elphicke, whom she succeeded as Dover MP, was convicted of sexual assualt.
But, in a swipe at Sir Keir, Ms Abbott added: 'The decision to accept it five years after she first said it is unusual. Not everyone is treated with such generosity.'
Sir Keir this morning defended dismissed anger in his own ranks at Ms Elphicke being allowed to join Labour and claimed politics should be 'less tribal'.
Diane Abbott lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer for welcoming Tory defector Natalie Elphicke to Labour while she herself remains suspended from the party
Ms Elphicke joined Sir Keir in her Dover constituency this morning to launch Labour's plans to tackle people-smuggling gangs bringing migrants across the Channel in small boats
Ms Abbott drew a comparison between her own treatment by Labour and that of Ms Elphicke, whose defection has sparked a party backlash
Labour MPs have criticised the decision to admit Ms Elphicke to the party, citing her hardline views on immigration and past support of her ex-husband.
The Dover MP apologised yesterday for claiming after Charlie Elphicke's 2020 conviction that he was 'attractive, and attracted to women' and 'an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations'.
She said: 'The period of 2017 - 2020 was an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew.
'I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.'
Jess Phillips, the former shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, had earlier said Ms Elphicke should 'account for her actions', adding: 'I'm all for forgiveness but I do think that that needs some explaining.'
Ms Elphicke stunned Westminster by crossing the floor of the Commons to sit on Labour's benches just ahead of Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.
She joined Sir Keir in her Dover constituency this morning to launch Labour's plans to tackle people-smuggling gangs bringing migrants across the Channel in small boats.
Speaking at the event, Sir Keir dismissed anger in his own ranks at Ms Elphicke being allowed to join the party.
He argued that Ms Elphicke's switch showed 'we've got a Tory party that is on its last legs... it's out of ideas' and urged people to be 'less tribal in our pursuit of a better country'.
Sir Keir said: 'I'm very pleased
