Campaigners ‘mystified’ over Diane Abbott’s failure to sign fossil fuel pledge
Diane Abbott was re-elected in June with an increased mandate
Diane Abbott has been criticised by climate change activists over her failure to sign a pledge calling for MPs’ pensions to be divested from fossil fuel companies.
The Divest Parliament campaign is demanding the Parliamentary Contributionary Pension Fund’s board of trustees “quantify, disclose and review” its investments from carbon-intensive industries and “commit to phasing out fossil fuel investments”.
The pledge of support has been signed by Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, and 51 other MPs, most of them from the Labour Party, along with 22 former MPs and 325 parliamentary candidates for 2017.
Diane Abbott was contacted about the campaign by around 50 constituents, and wrote them a letter which expressed general support on the issue.
But the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP has declined to sign the pledge of support, in a move which has left the campaign’s organisers “mystified”.
A spokesperson for Diane Abbott said “it’s usually protocol for members of the Shadow Cabinet not to sign petitions”, adding that this was more of a convention than a rule.
However, the pledge has been signed by at least three current Shadow Cabinet members, Barry Gardiner, Cat Smith and Rebecca Long-Bailey.
Ms Abbott’s spokesperson acknowledged this and suggested their signing might have been an “oversight”, saying she “would look into it”.
But she added: “If Diane Abbott doesn’t abide by the rules entirely, it’s a story. No other MP – well maybe Jeremy [Corbyn] – is subject to that kind of scrutiny.”
Sam Speaight, a spokesperson for Divest Parliament, told the Citizen: “Diane Abbott has not committed to divest the parliamentary pension fund of fossil fuels, and while we’ve received a letter of support from her office there’s no firm commitment from her on this issue right now.
Meg Hillier signed the petition in January. Photograph: Hackney Council
“She lives in a borough that’s populated with constituents who are concerned about issues like this, and the fact that she’s stopped short of pledging to sign the pledge has me and my team mystified.”
He added: “If we can’t rely on MPs who sit in seats like Hackney North and Stoke Newington to lead the people of this country toward a better future, what hope is there for the rest of the nation and indeed the world?”
Mr Speaight said he has contacted Diane Abbott’s office several times asking for support and received no response.
Diane Abbott’s letter said: “I agree that the Pension Fund’s refusal to provide answers on investment strategies or outline measures that are being taken to manage climate related financial risks is worrying.
“It raises serious ethical issues if MP’s pensions are being used to invest in companies that are complicit in contributing to climate change.
“Climate change is of paramount importance and it should be at the forefront of our policy agenda. It is critical that we are conscious of our environment for those present and for those who come after us. I have and will continue to advocate for better strategies to tackle climate change.
“It is imperative that the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund commits to acting in alignment with over 1,000 other organisations to reduce their exposure to the fossil fuel industry.”
The letter stops short of backing the campaign’s call for the trustees to disclose and review its investments and to phase them out over time.
Meg Hillier told the Citizen: “It is right that the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund should consider responsible investment practices, particularly when it comes to fossil fuels.” She signed the pledge in January 2017.
This article was amended at 6.20pm on Monday 11 December 2017. The original article stated that Sam Speaight, was managing director of Divest Parliament. This is not the case: he is in fact a spokesperson for the campaign group.
Hypocrisy springs to mind. Apparently we’re all against fossil fuel companies that should be banished from the face of the earth. But we happily turn on our central heating at the first sign of a wind, and fill our cars with petrol and diesel, products supplied by these same companies. So are we all complicit? Shouldn’t the campaigners be targeting us?
And if ignoring these companies results in poor performance by the MPs pension fund who picks up the tab? The MPs or Joe Public taxpayer? It will not be these campaigners either who obviously have an axe to grind and aim to shame anyone who thinks differently. And who thinks their campaign will be enhanced by support from the worst (in my opinion) MP in parliament?
Diane Abbott is being harassed by closet racists who are frustrated in not having their sweet way in getting rid of her and muscling in on what is considered a ‘safe seat’. All the negativity and propaganda spewn by the media about black women has FAILED. The more we are pushed down, the faster we rise.
I don’t think you can call this pressure group closet racists. All they care about is attacking fossil fuel companies and driving down their share price. They will sling mud at anybody who doesn’t kow-tow to their point of view. I’d personally think more of Ms Abbott if she came out and said that fossil fuel companies are currently critical to maintain current UK (and most other country’s) standards of living and thus to denigrate them (the companies)would not benefit her constituents. At the same time she could call on all concerned to maximise their efforts at converting the world to clean energy.
Diane has been a little more prone to gaffs of late. A fair question to ask would be, would she have actually made it as an MP if she was not a black women … as in a bit of racial and sexual window dressing for the Party at the time she got into the game?
I don’t think so.
A lot of people in Hackney have never forgiven her for that espisode of sending her son to private school and have her down for being just one big hypocrite … after having publicly criticised other MPs for sending their children to private schools, which she described as being “indefensible” and “intellectually incoherent”.
She really should have stood down at that point but, hey, who is going to leave a job that gets to decide on its own pay rises … whilst at the same time, keeping everyone else’s lock down?
So, it’s got nothing about being Black. It’s about being “morally defensible” and “intellectually coherent” and representing constituents which is actually her job. But who really expect a politician so far up the slippery pole to be so?
Meg Hillier has been more outstanding in that department. Good on her for taking a position again, as she against Brexit.
Speaking of “maintaining standards of living”, you’re going to have a hard time generating tropical temperatures for all the Nigerians and West Indians in Hackney to wander about their houses in shorts and t-shirts all winter, using just solar panels.
Yes, I know the politically correct brigade will kneejerk over such as statement as being “racist”, but there more than a grain of truth to it.
It would make an interesting study to see who exactly is using the most fossil fuels for what.
There just isn’t the science to supply as much is demanded.
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