I am no fan of Diane Abbott, Sue. Her attempt to create a hierarchy of discrimination, where some groups are supposedly more disadvantaged than others, was obviously foolish. When you go down that road you are bound to offend someone or other. In this case Jewish people in particular have taken offence, which is why she has had the whip removed by Keir Starmer, ever anxious to purge the party of any trace of anti-Semitism.But I don't think she is stupid. It was a considerable achievement for a black girl to gain a place at Cambridge from an ordinary state grammar school in the early 1970s. And having studied English myself I can vouch for the fact that it is actually quite a challenging degree subject. Maths is clearly not her strong suit, given her embarrassing interview a while back, but she is perfectly articulate.Her main problem is her obsession with race, which is not all that surprising given her background. She was the only black girl at her school. When she said she wanted to try for Cambridge, her headmistress apparently told her that Cambridge was not for the likes of her, or words to that effect. In 1984 she was the first black woman to be elected to Parliament, since when she has been the victim of horrific hate mail, far more than any other MP.She is politically very naive, but not more so than her ex, Jeremy Corbyn, or a host of other left wing MPs, who all seem to believe that the solution to the country's problems lies in taxing the rich.
Steven Rose ● 25d