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BRITAIN’S first black female MP received rapturous applause from Labour members as she slammed the Tories for trying to win votes with “dog-whistle racism,” adding: “Haters gonna hate.”
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott also attacked the government’s record on policing, telling her party’s conference yesterday: “The Tories are insulting our intelligence if they think the public will simply forget who caused this crisis of law and order.”
Ms Abbott tore into the Tory government’s handling of violent crime and its “chaotic” immigration policies.
“There is no question that the cuts in police numbers have contributed to the rise in crime,” she said.
“But other contributors are the cuts to education, the increase in school exclusions, zero-hours contracts, homelessness and inequality, cuts in mental health services. These are all Tory policies.
“When they say they will lead the fight against crime, do not believe a word of it. They are the ones who have created the conditions for rising serious and violent crime.”
Turning her attention to the Tories’ border policies, she warned that their “rhetoric on immigration is just as false as it is on law and order.”
“We will end the Windrush scandal. We will ensure justice for Grenfell,” she pledged.
Ms Abbott’s reaffirmation of Labour’s commitment to reverse the 2014 Immigration Act and the Tories’ hostile environment policies were emphatically approved by the delegates.
“We will welcome refugees, including child refugees,” she vowed.
“We will proudly uphold the torture ban and treat the victims of torture with humanity, not detentions and deportations.
“We will end indefinite immigration detention and limit it to the 28 days MPs were originally promised.
“And we will close Yarl’s Wood and Brook House detention centres and review the entire detention estate,” Ms Abbott added to a standing ovation.
“I’ll let the Tories into a secret,” she said, rounding off her speech: “The British public increasingly agrees with Labour Party and its positive view of immigration.
“Back in 2011, most people when polled said immigration generally had a negative impact. Earlier this year, pollsters found that increasing numbers of people were saying the opposite.
“The Tories are selling snake oil. But the British public aren’t buying it.
“The haters are still very noisy. But haters gonna hate.”
