Ten million pounds sterling to disburse.
The British Conservative Party is under pressure this Wednesday to return millions of pounds sterling to one of its main donors, accused of having made racist remarks against a black opposition MP.
Businessman Frank Hester is accused of saying in 2019 that MP Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and that she should be “shot”.
These comments were “racist”, admitted Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday when questioned in the House of Commons.
Frank Hester “rightly apologized and this remorse must be accepted,” continued the head of government.
“Is the prime minister proud to be bankrolled by someone using racist and misogynistic language?”
Keir Starmer asks PM
Rishi Sunak says Frank Hester's “alleged comments were wrong, they were racist” and “his remorse should be accepted”
#PMQs https://t.co/8Zg3bWOOoo pic.twitter.com/3EA8VO0DDF
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) March 13, 2024
Ten million pounds sterling
“Racism has no place in Britain and the government I lead is living proof,” insisted Rishi Sunak, who is himself of Indian origin.
He is due to deliver a speech on extremism on Thursday.
The Labor Party, which is seen as the winner in the polls for the legislative elections which are due to take place by the end of the year, has called on the Conservatives to return the ten million pounds sterling (11.70 million euros) donated by Frank Hester.
“Rude” comments
“Is the Prime Minister proud to be financed by someone who makes racist and misogynistic comments?
», Asked Labor leader Keir Starmer in the House of Commons.
“If Rishi Sunak had a backbone he would pay this money back today,” Labor MP Jonathan Ashworth also told Sky News television.
Rishi Sunak, however, suggested he would not return the money to Frank Hester, who is chairman of software company Phoenix Partnership.
Frank Hester admitted making “rude” comments about Diane Abbott, but claimed they had “nothing to do with her gender or the color of her skin”.
Diane Abbott was the first black woman to sit in the House of Commons, after her election in 1987. She was suspended from the Labor Party in April for a letter written on racism: she suggested that Jews, Irish people, of the trip were “undoubtedly victims of prejudice” but were “not subjected to racism all their lives”, unlike black people.