Diane Abbott issue drives a divide between the media
The furore over Diane Abbott's comments about how 'white people love playing divide and rule' is playing out differently on the right and left of Britain's media and political spectrums.
Had a white Tory MP made such a remark about black people one can easily imagine the response from the Guardian and the BBC, never mind the Labour party. In Ms Abbott's case, however, they are remaining non-judgemental.
The offending MP would most certainly have had the whip withdrawn immediately and would be expected by David Cameron (rightly, in my view) to stand down at the next election.
Ed Milliband has, by contrast, left Ms Abbott in place and colleagues have defended her for speaking up for black people's interests.
The claims of hypocrisy, racism and double standards are rife, and not just on the right - a quick view of comments on the Guardian's web site from its readers tells you that sensible British folk take a dim view of racism and double standards whatever the background of the perpetrator. Amen to that, too.
So was Ms Abbott being racist? Toby Young in the Telegraph thinks she might be:
"It's particularly irresponsible of Diane Abbott to say something like this, implying that "white people" are intent on keeping black people down, since she's the UK's most prominent black leader. The mistaken belief among some black Britons that "white people" are all, without exception, anti-black - that they're all, effectively, racist - is a huge source of racial tension. As a prominent black politician, Diane Abbott should be doing what she can to defuse this tension rather than cranking it up. Or does she actually share that belief? In which case, she's not simply guilty of saying something racist. She is a racist."
This one looks set to run and run. Across the media Ms Abbott is being labelled as 'gaffe-prone' and the double standards of her political opposition to privilege whilst sending her son to private school is seeing the old charge of hypocrisy sticking once more.
Will the media come together on this or will the left of the spectrum retain their more forgiving stance? Time will tell, but thus far they seem comfortable in being apart.
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