When Diane Abbott spoke publicly about her son when she was running for the Labour leadership in 2010 ...
She defended her decision to give him a private education at a £10,000-a-year City of London School, that was denied to her constituents in Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
She said: 'I knew what could happen if my son went to the wrong school [presumably she was referring to the schools in her constituency of Hackney], and got in with the wrong crowd. They are subjected to peer pressure [to join criminal gangs], and when that happens it's very hard for a mother to save her son. Once a black boy is lost to the world of gangs it's very hard to get them back.'
She then implied that black mothers are more caring than other races, by saying that white people would 'never understand' the Afro-Caribbean culture of parents wanting to do the best for their children, and that 'West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.' .... statements that might well be considered highly questionable, racist against other ethnic groups, whose parenting skills are often demonstrably better that those of black parents, if judged by outcomes, as well as being at odds with the reality of black males propensity for gangs, as she had acknowledged in her earlier utterances.
Her son then completed his education at Cambridge University, and was placed on the Foreign Office's Diplomatic Fast Stream in 2014, and was based in London for two and a half years, before going to work at the British Embassy in Rome, and then on to a secondment to a consultancy firm, HewardMills, which he has since left early. Its not entirely clear if he remained a Civil Servant, but there are strong suggestions that he has also left the Foreign Office and is unemployed.
In the meantime, his mother has had a dramatic reversal in fortunes in the Labour Party, as one of Jeremy Corbyn's acolytes, and is now the shadow Home Secretary and will be in charge of policing if Labour wins the general election next Thursday .... in this role she has made various remarks about policing.
She has expressed her concern in Parliament over assaults on police officers and other emergency workers, and complained that “for too long police victims of violence have felt like second-class victims.” In a 2016 Commons debate, which she herself had initiated, she told MPs: “All assaults on the police are unacceptable, and we will discuss how to address them.”
So imagine her reaction, when her first born, who she had 'gone to the wall' in providing a private elite education over, was arrested for allegedly spitting at, and punching one police officer, and biting the thumb of another. This is said to have taken place after Mr Abbott-Thompson arrived at the Foreign Office building on King Charles Street, Westminster, and asked to speak to someone, who was not present. The police being called when he caused a disturbance trying to enter the building.
The police statement was that:
'James Adam Abbott-Thompson, 28, was charged on Sunday 1 December with two counts of assault by beating of an emergency services worker. He was further charged with an offence under Section 4 of the Public Order Act. He appeared in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, 2 December. He was granted bail and next appears at City of London Magistrates' Court on 7 February.' Mr Abbott-Thompson has also been banned from going to the Foreign Office under the terms of his bail.
You would hope that she would defend the police against her errant son and heir, but apparently lawyers acting for Ms Abbott, instead wrote to the newspaper who had approached her for comment, apparently trying to prevent publication of the story, which was futile as the story was already on the Internet.
However what makes this story especially interesting at the time of a UK General Election, is that whilst all the written press and Internet ran with the story, the UK TV news media all apparently ignored it ... ITV, SKY News and the BBC, the lot, even their web versions. I have absolutely no idea why ... its not as though the story was banned or wasn't interesting.
If the UK TV news channels are censoring news that's freely available elsewhere, then people will soon catch on, and distrust of those mainstream news outlets will grow, and more #FakeNews will proliferate.
 |
| The Scion of Privilege? |
She defended her decision to give him a private education at a £10,000-a-year City of London School, that was denied to her constituents in Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
She said: 'I knew what could happen if my son went to the wrong school [presumably she was referring to the schools in her constituency of Hackney], and got in with the wrong crowd. They are subjected to peer pressure [to join criminal gangs], and when that happens it's very hard for a mother to save her son. Once a black boy is lost to the world of gangs it's very hard to get them back.'
She then implied that black mothers are more caring than other races, by saying that white people would 'never understand' the Afro-Caribbean culture of parents wanting to do the best for their children, and that 'West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.' .... statements that might well be considered highly questionable, racist against other ethnic groups, whose parenting skills are often demonstrably better that those of black parents, if judged by outcomes, as well as being at odds with the reality of black males propensity for gangs, as she had acknowledged in her earlier utterances.
Her son then completed his education at Cambridge University, and was placed on the Foreign Office's Diplomatic Fast Stream in 2014, and was based in London for two and a half years, before going to work at the British Embassy in Rome, and then on to a secondment to a consultancy firm, HewardMills, which he has since left early. Its not entirely clear if he remained a Civil Servant, but there are strong suggestions that he has also left the Foreign Office and is unemployed.
In the meantime, his mother has had a dramatic reversal in fortunes in the Labour Party, as one of Jeremy Corbyn's acolytes, and is now the shadow Home Secretary and will be in charge of policing if Labour wins the general election next Thursday .... in this role she has made various remarks about policing.
She has expressed her concern in Parliament over assaults on police officers and other emergency workers, and complained that “for too long police victims of violence have felt like second-class victims.” In a 2016 Commons debate, which she herself had initiated, she told MPs: “All assaults on the police are unacceptable, and we will discuss how to address them.”
 |
| Clueless .... |
So imagine her reaction, when her first born, who she had 'gone to the wall' in providing a private elite education over, was arrested for allegedly spitting at, and punching one police officer, and biting the thumb of another. This is said to have taken place after Mr Abbott-Thompson arrived at the Foreign Office building on King Charles Street, Westminster, and asked to speak to someone, who was not present. The police being called when he caused a disturbance trying to enter the building.
The police statement was that:
'James Adam Abbott-Thompson, 28, was charged on Sunday 1 December with two counts of assault by beating of an emergency services worker. He was further charged with an offence under Section 4 of the Public Order Act. He appeared in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, 2 December. He was granted bail and next appears at City of London Magistrates' Court on 7 February.' Mr Abbott-Thompson has also been banned from going to the Foreign Office under the terms of his bail.
You would hope that she would defend the police against her errant son and heir, but apparently lawyers acting for Ms Abbott, instead wrote to the newspaper who had approached her for comment, apparently trying to prevent publication of the story, which was futile as the story was already on the Internet.
 |
| A Big Story Or Not? |
However what makes this story especially interesting at the time of a UK General Election, is that whilst all the written press and Internet ran with the story, the UK TV news media all apparently ignored it ... ITV, SKY News and the BBC, the lot, even their web versions. I have absolutely no idea why ... its not as though the story was banned or wasn't interesting.
If the UK TV news channels are censoring news that's freely available elsewhere, then people will soon catch on, and distrust of those mainstream news outlets will grow, and more #FakeNews will proliferate.
Trust is a two way thing ... broadcasters need to realise that if they want to remain relevant.
Wasn't it strange that Diane Abbot gave no press TV interviews during the election campaign? Was she considered a walking foot n mouth case by the party?
ReplyDeleteThat and other issues will no doubt come out after the shoeing that her party took last night.
Now that you mention it, it was rather strange, as was Emily Thornberry disappearing, but then again Jacob Rees-Mogg was gagged by the Conservatives .... so maybe they all hid their idiots. Thanks very much for the comment!!
DeleteStill nothing on the TV media over this story, but the printed press are reporting that James Adam Abbott-Thompson, appeared before magistrates on New Years Eve (31st Dec 2019), and was charged with 11 offences.
ReplyDeleteThe offences occurred between July 26 and December 23 2019, and include assaults on emergency services workers, police officers, a nurse and a social therapist, mainly on NHS premises. He is also accused of racially aggravated criminal damage and exposing himself in a hospital ward at the Homerton Hospital in east London. His mother was not in court with her son, and has made no comment on her sons criminal behaviour despite previously saying: “I was taught that you sacrifice everything for your child.”
Apparently he intends to indicate not guilty pleas on all the offences, and is bailed to wear an electronic tag and obey a curfew, as well as keep away from certain premises.
It has been confirmed that he had 'left' the civil service (which is very rare), last summer, to work as a consultant in Dublin, Eire, but that seems to have ended .... he has apparently had treatment for mental health issues.