1.
I was a postman one Christmas and I developed a morbid fear of dogs.
Diane Abbott
2.
My London constituency in Hackney has one of the highest levels of gun crime in the country. But the problem is no longer confined to inner city areas. Gun crime has spread to communities all over Britain.
Diane Abbott
3.
Gun crime is a major cause of fear and distress throughout the UK. The problem is deeply entrenched in a wide range of social and cultural factors and therefore not an isolated issue.
Diane Abbott
4.
White people love playing 'divide & rule'. We should not play their game.
Diane Abbott
5.
Being an MP is a good job, the sort of job all working-class parents want for their children -- clean, indoors and no heavy lifting. What could be nicer?
Diane Abbott
6.
Outsiders often have an insight that an insider doesn't quite have.
Diane Abbott
7.
I'm a West Indian mum and West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.
Diane Abbott
8.
I'm not the only Labour MP who sent their child to public school but I'm the only one who's questioned about it.
Diane Abbott
9.
My forebears refused to cut the sugar cane for plantation owners, and I am recognisably a product of that background.
Diane Abbott
10.
It is time Britain put its trust back into the Labour Party. I believe I am the candidate that can make this happen precisely because I am not associated with the past.
Diane Abbott
11.
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.
Diane Abbott
12.
So long as the UK continues to maintain its own identity, it is my belief that the US and the UK should maintain close relations.
Diane Abbott
13.
Finally, there's a sense in which I look at this Westminster village and London intelligentsia as an outsider.
Diane Abbott
14.
I wanted my marriage to work, but it didn't.
Diane Abbott
15.
I believe every abortion is a tragedy.
Diane Abbott
16.
Mental health is often missing from public health debates even though it's critical to wellbeing.
Diane Abbott
17.
You learn from mistakes.
Diane Abbott
18.
I'm not thick-skinned at all, and of course I'm hurt by people attacking me as a person.
Diane Abbott
19.
Families are struggling against a tide of junk information on junk food.
Diane Abbott
20.
I don't think you can have pain and soul-searching doing the right thing for your child.
Diane Abbott
21.
I want to write a best-selling book.
Diane Abbott
22.
My mother liked Jim Reeves. I hated his records. He was unbearable.
Diane Abbott
23.
Abortion is an issue of conscience for the Labour party.
Diane Abbott
24.
There are 101 websites out there for debate - this was a blatant last attempt to get someone to stand against Gordon Brown.
Diane Abbott
25.
My father was a manual worker.
Diane Abbott
26.
My family were from Jamaica.
Diane Abbott
27.
I spend a lot of time visiting local organisations.
Diane Abbott
28.
Let's talk about the real issues of crime which people are worried about. What people are worried about is the rise in violent crime. We believe that more community policemen and women are part of the answer to this.
Diane Abbott
29.
It's very lonely bringing up a child on your own.
Diane Abbott
30.
There is no reason why the US and the UK cannot have close relations.
Diane Abbott
31.
Tackling childhood obesity is key.
Diane Abbott
32.
Because when you watch US television, all the presenters and reporters, they're all out of central casting.
Diane Abbott
33.
You can't defend the indefensible. Anything you say sounds self-serving and hypocritical.
Diane Abbott
34.
In politics, the people I most despise are those who have no values.
Diane Abbott
35.
I want a Labour Party that is more democratic, more open and listens to its members.
Diane Abbott
