New ‘austerity drive’ will bring rise in racism, says Diane Abbott

A renewed “austerity drive” will bring an increase in racism with ethnic minorities “bearing the brunt of the Government’s attacks”, Diane Abbott has said.

In a message to a fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference on Sunday, the veteran Labour MP warned that the Government’s promise that “things will only get worse” presented a “grim outlook” for ethnic minorities in the UK.

She said: “We are in a very difficult period. There is both a renewed war drive and a renewed austerity drive.

“Whenever either of these happens, they are always accompanied by an increase in racism. Now that both are happening simultaneously, black and Asian people in this country, as well as Muslims, are bearing the brunt of the Government attacks.”

Left-wing Labour MPs such as Ms Abbott have accused the Government of embarking on a renewed round of austerity as the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, seeks to impose spending restraint on Whitehall.

But the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insisted during a reception at the start of the Labour conference that he would not return to the economic policies of previous Conservative administrations.

Sunday’s meeting, organised by the campaign group Stand Up To Racism, also heard from Labour National Executive Committee member Mish Rahman, who accused the new Government of contributing to a political climate that made this summer’s riots “inevitable”.

He said: “Starmer’s Labour seems to have embraced the current debate by contributing throwing its own fuel onto the bin fire by promising their own blitz on illegal immigration.”

Accusing the Labour leadership of adopting right-wing rhetoric, he said: “Our fear now is seriously what (Nigel) Farage says today, the Tories will say tomorrow, and Labour may legislate the day after.”

Both Ms Abbott and Mr Rahman, along with other speakers, called on Labour members to press the Government to do more to combat racism in the wake of the summer’s riots.