In a recent development, Diane Abbott has taken a significant step by reporting the Conservative Party’s largest-ever donor to the police on March 13 after disturbing allegations surfaced.
Frank Hester, who contributed £10 million to the Tories just last year, is now under scrutiny for reportedly making alarming comments about the MP, including a shocking statement suggesting she “should be shot.”
The Member of Parliament lodged a formal complaint with the Metropolitan Police’s parliamentary liaison and investigations team in response to these allegations.
Hester’s alleged remarks went beyond the realm of political criticism, with reports suggesting that he expressed sentiments claiming the MP “made him ‘want to hate all Black women.'”
This has sparked a heated controversy within the Conservative Party, as Minister Kemi Badenoch defied senior colleagues by labeling Hester’s comments as “racist.”
Former Conservative leader William Hague and ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng have joined the chorus of condemnation against the businessman’s remarks, despite Downing Street’s initial reluctance to explicitly deem them as racist.
Despite the delay in officially acknowledging the nature of the comments, a notable shift occurred a day after the controversy initially erupted. The prime minister’s spokesperson finally affirmed that the remarks were deemed “racist and wrong.”
In a statement, Diane Abbott, Britain’s longest-serving Black MP, expressed her concern over Hester’s comments.
“It is frightening. I live in Hackney, I don’t drive, so I find myself, at weekends, popping on a bus or even walking places, more than most MPs. I am a single woman and that makes me vulnerable anyway. But to hear someone talking like this is worrying.”
She added: “For all of my career as an MP I have thought it important not to live in a bubble but to mix and mingle with ordinary people. The fact that two MPs have been murdered in recent years makes talk like this all the more alarming.”
Her statement came after Tory ministers Mel Stride and Graham Stuart both refused to say the comments were racist. Mr. Stride criticized the remarks but said they were not “gender-based or race-based” while Mr. Stuart, when asked whether he accepted the comments were racist, said: “I find it absolutely unacceptable. I hesitate to stick that particular label on it.”
Calls For Tories To Return Hester’s Money
In recent events, there has been mounting pressure on the Conservative Party to return the money donated by Frank Hester.
Sir Keir Starmer used his first question at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, March 13 to attack Rishi Sunak over alleged racism after Hester’s comments about MP Diane Abbott.
During a fiery exchange, Sir Keir asked: “How low would he have to sink, what racist, woman-hating threat of violence would he have to make before the Prime Minister plucked up the courage to hand back the £10 million that he’s taken from him?”
Prime Minister Sunak said: “No… I am pleased [Mr Hester] is supporting a party that represents one of the most diverse governments in this country’s history.” He added that he would not also return a £15,000 donation from Frank Hester that funded a helicopter trip.
In an emotional interview, Baroness Chakrabarti said “If the gentleman in question, Mr Hester, used these words in that sequence, then those statements about Diane and all Black women, and references to people being shot and so on, that is terrifying hate speech.”
She added: “She has put up with so much over so many decades as the first Black woman MP in our country and I say to the prime minister, I say to the prime minister, our first non-white prime minister, please, please do something about this.”
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