Labour MP Dawn Butler has said she understands why the party is losing support with young black, Asian and minority ethnic voters and that Keir Starmer’s leadership must prove itself to be anti-racist to win members back.
Speaking to The Observer, the former shadow equalities minister said: “I don’t blame anyone for being unforgiving and uncompromising in this moment. Young black people are seeking meaningful change and commitment and nothing less will do. I completely endorse that. The Labour party is an anti-racist party but it has to prove that. It’s not something that is a given, it is something that has to be re-earned.”
The MP for Brent Central was forced to close down her constituency office in Willesden, north London, last week after a dramatic escalation of violent threats and racist abuse, with bricks thrown through the office windows. “We had no choice,” she said. “The safety of my four staff members, which include a black male and black female, is paramount and even though we have mostly been working from home in lockdown, it is clear we could no longer operate from there.”
During her 15 year career with the party, serving as member of parliament, Butler said she had faced a significant level of racist abuse throughout. “It’s not at the scale of Diane [Abbott, who receives almost half of all the online abuse sent to female politicians], but there is the N word, black bitch, go home, you’re diseased, you’re ugly. It is deliberate racial hatred, bullying, and intimidation. It got really bad after Brexit and again now since the death of George Floyd.”
Butler has faced humiliation at work too. She was once escorted out from a members room in the Houses of Parliament by a police officer who didn’t believe she was an MP, despite being vouched for by her colleagues. Her staff have to monitor her inbox and Twitter account for her, as both are frequently targeted with hate. Last year, she was attacked on the tube by a member of her constituency who threatened to kill her.
“I raised it with parliament and I was told that the abuse I was receiving wasn’t enough to warrant any special security measures. I was really nervous about travelling and anxious about taking public transport after that attack. How much abuse do I have to get before it was enough?”
On Thursday, Starmer condemned the abuse Butler had suffered. He tweeted: “I have spoken to @DawnButlerBrent to offer the Labour Party’s full support and solidarity. The racist abuse that Dawn and her staff have suffered is appalling. Dawn’s voice is vital. The racism that our Black MPs face has no place in society.”
The Labour leader recently announced the party’s new racial equality strategy and committed to unconscious bias training after being criticised for his comments on Black Lives Matter movement. In a television interview he referred to BLM as a “moment” and dismissed one of the protestors’ demands to “defund the police” as “nonsense”.
“Keir has gone some way to addressing what he meant when he called it a moment, and clarified he was referring to an historic moment. That’s important,” said Butler.
Despite having served as shadow minister for women and equalities in the last cabinet, Butler was not involved in helping shape the party’s new racial equality strategy. “I wasn’t aware of it…I haven’t read it,” she said. She grimaced when asked if unconscious bias training worked.
“Learning is always a good thing, so you should never dismiss anything that educates. Keir is going on a bit of journey at the moment with regards to Black Lives Matter,” she said.
