The Conservative Party can’t win political capital by condemning Diane Abbott – they’re no better

Diane Abbott was wrong to argue that Jewish people, Travellers and the Irish community do not experience racism in the same way Black people do. All of these communities experience racism on a daily basis.

But those in the Conservative Party trying to make political capital out of her error need to remember that their party is no better.

They are the party of the “hostile environment”, and the Windrush scandal. They are the party that plans to send vulnerable asylum-seekers to a camp in Rwanda and whose home secretary, Suella Braverman, has vilified these refugees as “invaders” and has habitually labelled the Albanian community as “criminals”.

It was less than two weeks ago that Suella Braverman defended pub owners for hanging “golli***s” from the ceiling of their Essex pub and denounced the police raid. Shortly after Braverman’s intervention the owner’s tweet picturing the dolls against his comment that “they used to hang them in Mississippi years ago” came to light – as did a picture of him wearing a Britain First T-shirt.

More recently, the racist remarks of Conservative councillor Andrew Edwards came to light in which he declared “all white men should have a Black man as a slave” and went on to argue that Black people are more “lower class than us white people”.

Diane Abbott has acknowledged that her letter to The Observer was mistaken. She has retracted it and apologised for it. Good. There can be no “hierarchies” when it comes to racism. Racism is social poison and must be challenged and fought in whatever form it takes.

Sasha Simic

London

One of our last overseas trips before Covid closed the world was to Berlin. My children had never visited Berlin before, so I was delighted to show them around all the highlights which I know well. There was one site that only opened in 2012 which was new to me and I made a point of going there early on.

The Roma Sinti memorial is dedicated to the 500,000 Roma Sinti people who were killed by the Nazis. The next time Dianne Abbott finds herself in Berlin she would do well to sit at the memorial for a few minutes reflecting on the fate of those poor people.

It is unbelievable that, once again, these people have to itemise their suffering to prove they are victims of racism.

Robert Boston

Kent

The SNP is a party which is currently under criminal investigation for the misappropriation of more than £600,000. Auditors appear not to want to touch it with a bargepole and it is widely rumoured to be facing bankruptcy.

What lurks behind all this has not (yet) been revealed.

But in recent months the following have all resigned: the Westminster leader, the Westminster deputy leader, the leader and first minister, the deputy first minister, the head of comms, the CEO, the first minister’s chief of staff, the party treasurer and the SNP’s independent auditors.

Nationalists are supposed to trust this lot to deliver independence. The rest of us are supposed to trust them to run the country. Me? I wouldn’t let them organise a village fete.

Linda Holt

Anstruther

Earlier this month, some 18,000 cows died in a horrific explosion on a factory farm in the USA.

The sheer number of lives lost in such a shockingly violent way only served to further illustrate how our approach to animals, their welfare and our environment desperately needs to change. The very real impact that intensive factory farming has on our environment cannot be ignored any longer.

The time is now to act at every level to protect animal health, human health and the health of the planet.

At the time of writing, 80 billion farmed animals are reportedly slaughtered each year for their meat. The vast majority are kept and killed in the most gruesome conditions, conditions that are also a perfect breeding zone for zoonotic diseases, where the number of outbreaks has risen at a rate of knots and brought us the first human deaths due to recent bird flu strain (H5N1).

With headlines and experts consistently citing a plant-based future as a steadfast way to tackle the issue of our suffering planet and its resources, Four Paws UK is encouraging people who may be on the fence to choose a “better and less” approach to their meat and dairy consumption.

As part of these efforts, we are urging governments and industries to support a swift reduction of meat production and consumption by any means. An end to factory farming and a transition towards food systems that support animal welfare, human health and the health of the planet.

With a “better and less” approach, we can move towards a more plant-based diet and recommend that those wishing to still eat meat carefully consider the welfare of the animal and the environmental impact of its source.

For ourselves, animals and the planet, we’re encouraging people globally to join our meat reduction pledge today and commit to consuming “better and less”.

Emily Wilson

Head of Campaigns at Four Paws UK