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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said comments a Conservative party donor allegedly made about MP Diane Abbott were “racist and wrong”.
Frank Hester, who has donated £10m to support the Conservatives, is reported to have said in a private meeting in 2019 that Ms Abbott made him want to “hate all black women”.
On that occasion, he is also alleged to have made further comments about violence towards Ms Abbott.
Mr Hester has since apologised for making “rude” comments in 2019, but added that what he said “had nothing to do with her [Ms Abbott’s] gender nor colour of skin”.
At first Downing Street did not describe his comments as racist, instead it said they were “unacceptable”.
But later, a spokesperson for Mr Sunak 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.
“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.”
The Metropolitan Police – which operates in Greater London – is investigating the matter.
What is a party donor?
All political parties in the UK raise money through donations to fund their activities.
At the last general election in 2019 the parties spent some £50m in total on campaigning.
Most of the money comes in the form of donations from individuals, companies or organisations.
Donations to political parties are legal and within the rules, but political parties have been criticised for relying too much on donations from a few individuals.
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Rishi Sunak is under pressure to return the money Frank Hester (pictured) has donated to the Conservative Party
Frank Hester is one of the Conservative Party’s biggest donors and the prime minister is now facing calls to return the money Mr Hester has given to the Conservatives.
When asked directly, at Prime Ministers Questions in Parliament earlier, whether he would give back Mr Hester’s money, the prime minister said: “the gentleman in question apologised and that remorse should be accepted”.
Labour’s former deputy leader Harriet Harman has described it as “tainted money”.
“He [Rishi Sunak] should not be fighting an election on money which has come from this person,” she said.
Who is Diane Abbott?
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Diane Abbott has herself been suspended from the Labour Party over comments about Irish, Jewish and Traveller people that she made that were “offensive and wrong”
Diane Abbott had served as a Labour Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in London since 1987.
She is Britain’s longest-serving black MP and said the comments made by Frank Hester were “frightening”, especially as in recent years two MPs have been killed by members of the public, while the MPs were carrying out their parliamentary work.
Ms Abbott is herself currently suspended from sitting as a Labour MP after saying in a newspaper article last year that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people were not subject to racism “all their lives”.
The Labour Party said her comments were “deeply offensive and wrong”.
The suspension means Ms Abbott will not be allowed to represent Labour in the House of Commons, where she now sits as an independent MP.
Other arguments over what’s being said in politics
Lee Anderson joined the Conservative Party having previously worked for a Labour MP. He has now switched to another political party Reform UK
Last month MP Lee Anderson was suspended by the Conservative Party after refusing to apologise for saying “Islamists” had “got control” of London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan.
The Muslim Council of Britain said Mr Anderson’s remarks were “disgusting” and extremist.
Following Mr Anderson’s refusal to apologise, he switched to another political party, Reform UK.
He said the Conservatives had suspended him for “speaking his mind” and that he was “speaking on behalf of millions of people” who agreed with him.
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Labour withdrew support for its Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali over comments he made
Meanwhile, the Labour Party decided in February to withdraw its support for its Labour candidate Azhar Ali in a by-election in Rochdale.
The party withdrew its support for Mr Ali over comments he made during the by-election campaign, suggesting Israel had allowed the 7 October attacks to happen in order to invade Gaza. Mr Ali has since apologised “unreservedly to the Jewish community” for his comments, which he described as “deeply offensive, ignorant and false”.
