'Diane Abbott was criticised yesterday after playing the race card over her controversial decision to send her son to a top private school.
The Labour leadership contender defended sending her son James to a £10,000-a-year school claiming: 'West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.'
Miss Abbott also risked fury among her white colleagues in the Labour Party by saying they would 'never understand' the Afro-Caribbean culture of parents wanting to do the best for their children.
The remarks brought accusations that she was being hypocritical and was insulting parents who are part of the mainstream education system.
Miss Abbott, a Left-winger who once attacked Tony Blair and Harriet Harman for sending their children to selective state schools, has come under fire repeatedly from Labour colleagues and activists for the decision she made over her son.'
The Labour leadership contender defended sending her son James to a £10,000-a-year school claiming: 'West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.'
Miss Abbott also risked fury among her white colleagues in the Labour Party by saying they would 'never understand' the Afro-Caribbean culture of parents wanting to do the best for their children.
The remarks brought accusations that she was being hypocritical and was insulting parents who are part of the mainstream education system.
Miss Abbott, a Left-winger who once attacked Tony Blair and Harriet Harman for sending their children to selective state schools, has come under fire repeatedly from Labour colleagues and activists for the decision she made over her son.'