Quotes by Diane Abbott

“I was a postman one Christmas and I developed a morbid fear of dogs.”

“Families are struggling against a tide of junk information on junk food.”

“When fast food is not a treat but a dietary staple, the children surf the internet all day in dark corners of the room and are bombarded with latest gadgets. Things replace parental standards.”

“The honest truth is that if this government were to propose the massacre of the first-born, it would still have no difficulty in getting it through the Commons.”

“In politics, the people I most despise are those who have no values.”

“Ireland is our struggle. Every defeat of the British state is a victory for all of us. A defeat in Northern Ireland would be a defeat indeed.”

“You have to start from an understanding that all white people are racist.”

“Ever since my colleagues and I have been in the house, there have been a series of incidents that give rise to concern. Our visitors are sometimes treated less than politely and deliberately misled...”

“Being an MP is the sort of job all working-class parents want for their children — clean, indoors and no heavy lifting.”

“I am surprised that they chose to bring in blonde, blue-eyed girls from Finland, instead of nurses from the Caribbean who know the language and understand British culture and institutions. [...] Ar...”

“On balance Mao did more good than harm.”

“I’m a West Indian mum and West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.”

“I think the public sector cuts have the potential to set back race relations and black and ethnic minority communities by a generation.”

“White people love playing ‘divide & rule’. We should not play their game.”

“I put being a mother ahead of being a politician.”

“Of course, sex is great. We don't have to pretend otherwise. But people shouldn't feel victimised by a pornified culture and girls shouldn't be forced to do things they don't feel comfortable with.”

“There is a crisis of masculinity in Britain because of the pressures rapid economic and social change have placed on masculine identity. A generation of men are in transit and unclear of their soci...”

“If you want people to participate and be interested, part of that is to have a political class that looks like the population as a whole.”

“When I had been at primary school, I was very good at writing essays. It was a big thing. My essays were so good they would get pinned up on the wall and read out to the rest of the class”

“I want power. I suppose that's the story of my life - seeking power.”