Diane Abbott’s career “on the line”
Left-wing Labour MP Diane Abbott has admitted her career is on the line after the “indefensible” decision to send her son to a private school.
In what appears to be a blatant act of hypocrisy, Ms Abbott, who criticised Tony Blair and Harriet Harman, the solicitor-general, for sending their children to selective schools, is sticking by her decision to send her 12-year old son, James, to the GBP10,000 a year City of London School for Boys, instead of a local comp in Hackney.
In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington said: “I know I’ve delivered myself on a plate to my enemies and there is absolutely no doubt my career is on the line.
“It would not surprise me if local party members were discussing my removal as we speak. They might well decide they want me to stand down as their MP and I will understand if they do.
“I don’t know whether my political career is over but accept that people are angry and I will have to deal with that. I suppose the principled thing to do would have been to send my son to a failing state school, however bad it was, but I’m sorry I just don’t possess that level of principle.”
The 50-year old divorcee said she decided against sending James to a local comprehensive because of race issues.
The Cambridge graduate said: “I do know the issues around the education of black boys in this borough.
“I’ve seen what happens to black boys who get caught up in the culture of the street. It’s hard to pull them back.
“It is a race issue because, of all the ethnic groups in London’s schools, the only group falling behind is black boys.”
Ms Abbot is very popular in her constituency, winning 18,081 votes in 2001, to give her a 61 per cent majority.
