Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reiterated his remarks about alleged comments by Tory donor Frank Hester being “racist and wrong,” but said he would not “take any lectures” from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer who accused him of being “bankrolled” by someone who used “racist and misogynist language.”
The pair clashed during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, following fresh claims that Mr. Hester cracked “racist jokes” about Indians during a private meeting in 2019.
During the 2019 meeting Mr. Hester, who has donated £10 million to the Conservative Party, is also alleged to have said MP Diane Abbott, who was at the time the shadow home secretary, made him “want to hate all black women” and added she “should be shot.”
On Tuesday night the prime minister’s spokesman said: “The comments allegedly made by Frank Hester were racist and wrong. He has now rightly apologised for the offence caused and, where remorse is shown, it should be accepted.”
He added, “The prime minister is clear there is no place for racism in public life and, as the first British–Asian prime minister leading one of the most ethnically diverse Cabinets in our history, the UK is living proof of that fact.”
But Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake said on Wednesday morning the Tories had no plans to return his donations and said they would accept further funds from Mr. Hester, who is chief executive of health care software firm The Phoenix Partnership (TPP).
Andy Street: Donations Should Be Returned
But West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, who is also a Tory, disagreed and told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme, “I would think about the company I kept and I would give that money back.”Ms. Abbott, who is waiting to find out if she will be reinstated as the Labour candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington at the upcoming general election, said the reported comments were “frightening” and “alarming” in light of the murder of MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess.
In the House of Commons on Wednesday, Sir Keir asked, “Is the prime minister proud to be bankrolled by someone using racist and misogynist language?”
The leader of the opposition also asked, “How low would he have to sink, what racist woman-hating threats of violence would he have to make, before the prime minister plucked up the courage to hand back the £10 million he’s taken?”
Sunak Accused of Being ‘Scared of His Party’
Sir Keir hit back by saying he had “changed” his party and accused Mr. Sunak of being “scared of his party.”After criticising an executive at another organisation, Mr. Hester allegedly went on to discuss Ms Abbott, the first black woman elected to Parliament.
He reportedly said: “It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you’re just like … you just want to hate all black women because she’s there. And I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot. [The executive] and Diane Abbott need to be shot.”
Mr. Hester later issued a statement, via his company, in which he said he had tried to contact Ms. Abbott to “apologise directly for the hurt he has caused her.”
The statement said, “Frank Hester accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbott in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin.”
Mr. Hester’s statement said he abhorred racism as he himself had experienced it as the child of Irish immigrants in the 1970s.
“He rang Diane Abbott twice today to try to apologise directly for the hurt he has caused her, and is deeply sorry for his remarks. He wishes to make it clear that he regards racism as a poison which has no place in public life,” the statement concluded.
On Tuesday afternoon Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch wrote on social media platform X: “Hester’s 2019 comments, as reported, were racist. I welcome his apology. Abbott and I disagree on a lot. But the idea of linking criticism of her, to being a black woman is appalling.”
“It’s never acceptable to conflate someone’s views with the colour of their skin,” she added.
