On March 1, Rishi Sunak said it was time to stand up against “intimidation, threats and planned acts of violence”.
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, he was defending a man who called for a black woman MP to be “shot”.
If a week is a long time in politics then for the PM, a fortnight is an eternity, one that has led to renewed calls for a change of leadership to save the Conservatives from electoral oblivion.
Two weeks ago, the PM upset TV schedules on a Friday evening to stage a surprise speech in condemnation of extremism, in the aftermath of “antisemitic” protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. Following the speech, the Government is set to announce a new definition of extremism.
He should look closer to home, opposition MPs said after the row over Tory donor Frank Hester blew up this week when the healthcare entrepreneur’s toxic comments against Diane Abbott were revealed.
Mr Hester is sorry and it’s time to move on, Mr Sunak said at PMQs, to the dismay even of some on his own benches amid mutterings about whether he has the political judgment to lead the party into a general election this year.
In between times, seven days ago, Jeremy Hunt delivered a Budget that was meant to kick-start a Conservative revival in the weeks or months leading up to the election.
Instead, polls suggest that the Chancellor and PM misfired with their package, with voters unimpressed with another 2p cut to national insurance while public services struggle.
Then The Lee Anderson Show deserted the Tory tent for a different circus organised (badly, judging by Monday’s introductory press conference) by the Reform UK party.
The Ashfield MP had the Tory whip suspended after refusing to apologise for his claim that Sadiq Khan is in the grip of Islamist extremists - a claim that the Government continues to deny was racist.
So the mood among Tory MPs was hardly buoyant when the row over the £10 million donor blew up following the emergence of Mr Hester’s incendiary comments about Ms Abbott, Britain’s first black woman MP.
In the hours before PMQs, gloomy backbenchers and at least one minister (Nus Ghani) were giving vent publicly to their misgivings a day after Mr Sunak sent out his ministers to defend the indefensible, by arguing that the attack on Ms Abbott was somehow not connected to the colour of her skin.
No10 then caved on Tuesday evening - and only after Cabinet member Kemi Badenoch broke ranks - by admitting that Mr Hester’s comments were “racist”.
The whispered worry is that if it took them the best part of a day to admit the glaringly obvious, how will they cope when the going gets properly tough - like, for instance, in a general election campaign? Can this gang be trusted to shoot straight, rather than at each other?
The more immediate question facing Mr Sunak was would he return the businessman’s millions - including nearly £16,000 for a helicopter ride in November? The answer was no, to the jeering dismay of the opposition benches at PMQs.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn accused Mr Sunak of “putting money before morals” and said the PM’s reference to an apology by Mr Hester was “complete rubbish”. The donor has only said sorry for being “rude”, not for making racist remarks.
The call for Ms Abbott to be “shot” was “downright bloody dangerous”, the Scottish Nationalist added. Despite Tory protests, the Speaker let the unparliamentary language pass.
But oddly, Sir Lindsay Hoyle did not call on Ms Abbott herself to speak despite her repeated attempts to draw his attention.
The lineup of questioners at PMQs is set beforehand, but these were extraordinary circumstances, and the Speaker already showed himself willing to bend the rules not long ago.
The PM hit back, not for the first time, by citing Labour’s troubles in Rochdale where its by-election candidate was suspended for an antisemitic rant against Israel.
Referring to Mr Heston, he said: “The alleged comments were wrong. They were racist.
“He has rightly apologised for them and that remorse should be accepted,” he said, arguing that the diversity of his own Cabinet was “living proof” of healthy race relations in Britain. To his left sat James Cleverly, Britain’s first black Foreign Secretary.
Mr Sunak then tried to turn the tables on Sir Keir Starmer, accusing Labour of “double standards” as he reprised a list of inflammatory remarks by opposition frontbenchers and the many antisemitism rows under former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
For Sir Keir, it was a chance to frame the PM’s recent difficulties in the prism of the election to come.
Despite his Friday night speech, Mr Sunak was now “tongue tied” over extremism, the Labour leader said, adding: “He’s scared of his party, I changed my party.”
