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Britain’s Conservative party is under pressure to return its biggest-ever cash gift after the donor was reported to have said that looking at former Labour MP Diane Abbott made “you just want to hate all Black women”.
Frank Hester, a healthcare technology entrepreneur, allegedly made the controversial remarks during a 2019 meeting at the Leeds headquarters of his company The Phoenix Partnership, according to The Guardian.
The newspaper also reported that in a separate meeting that year, Hester convened “foreign” workers in his company, and said that he abhorred racism, but added: “We take the piss out of the fact that all our Chinese girls sit together in Asian corner.”
In a statement on Wednesday, TPP said Hester accepted making “rude” remarks about Abbott in a past private meeting but insisted his criticism “had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”. At the time of the alleged remarks, Abbott was a Labour MP but she has sat as an independent since last year after being suspended by the party.
Hester was “deeply sorry” for his comments, had tried to apologise to Abbott and regarded racism “as a poison which has no place in public life”, TPP said.
In May last year, Hester made a £5mn donation to the Conservatives. It was followed by four separate donations to the party from TPP, which totalled just over £5mn, taking his total gifts in 2023 to more than £10mn.
Altogether, it makes him the largest-ever donor to the Conservative party, followed by a £10mn bequest last year made by Tory peer Lord John Sainsbury in his will.
TPP has been awarded more than £48mn in public sector contracts over the past decade, including one as recently as February.
Anneliese Dodds, Labour party chair, said Hester’s reported comments were “reprehensible” and that it was “vital that [Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak and the Tories return his donations, in full without delay”.
She added: “Rishi Sunak has claimed that ‘words matter’, and he must know that holding on to that money would suggest the Conservatives condone these disturbing comments. Sunak must return every penny.”
Wendy Chamberlain, Liberal Democrat chief whip, condemned the alleged remarks as “inexcusable and disgusting”.
She said: “Ultimately, the buck stops with Rishi Sunak. He must reassure the public that the Conservative party do not tolerate these remarks. That means confirming that his party will return every penny of these donations and won’t take any more from this donor in future.”
Senior Tory MP Sir Bob Neill also weighed in, telling Times Radio that the reported language was “stupid and offensive”. He said it “may have been hyperbolic”, but urged against the use of “divisive language”.
TPP said in a statement on Monday: “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.
“The Guardian is right when it quotes Frank saying he abhors racism, not least because he 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 Conservatives declined to comment.
The allegations against Hester follow a long history of political parties coming under pressure to return donations mired in controversy.
A businessman who was later convicted for perjury and fraud became the Liberal Democrats’ largest donor in 2005 with a £2.4mn gift to the centrist party. Despite demands to return the cash, the Lib Dems refused.
However, in 1997, Labour did return £1mn donated by former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone after the so-called “cash for favours” dispute over tobacco sponsorship in the international racing series.
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