Diane Abbott defends Chakrabarti peerage and report

Shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti was not “bought” with a peerage in order to write a “soft” report on anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, Diane Abbott has insisted.

The shadow home secretary strongly defended Ms Chakrabarti against accusations from some Jewish groups that the probe she produced shortly before becoming a Labour peer was a “whitewash”.

Ms Abbott told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the former head of rights organisation Liberty was the victim of a smear campaign.

“Shami has been offered peerages both by Gordon Brown, and I believe, by the Lib Dem leader. If she could be bought for a peerage she would have been bought years ago.

“She did a report that most people haven’t read which actually has some tough recommendations for the party, and I think it’s extraordinary she is being smeared in this way. If Shami could have been bought she would have been bought a long time ago.”