The public should accept an apology from a major Conservative party donor over remarks about Diane Abbott, Rishi Sunak has said, as he faced scathing criticism at prime minister’s questions for refusing to pay back the £10m Frank Hester gave the party.
Keir Starmer contrasted Sunak’s impromptu speech at the start of the month in which he called for an end to extremism and hate, with the decision to keep Hester’s money, even after the Guardian reported that Hester had said at a 2019 meeting that seeing Abbott on TV made “you just want to hate all black women”.
“Two weeks ago, the prime minister promised to crack down on those spreading hate,” the Labour leader said. “Today, he shrunk at the first challenge.”
Focusing on Hester’s comments that Abbott, Britain’s longest-serving black MP, should be “shot”, Starmer began: “Is the prime minister proud to be bankrolled by someone using racist and misogynist language?”
Sunak replied: “The alleged comments were wrong. They were racist. He has rightly apologised for them and that remorse should be accepted.”
Starmer said: “The man bankrolling the prime minister also said that the member for Hackney North [Abbott] should be shot. How low would he have to sink, what racist, woman-hating threats of violence would he have to make before the prime minister plucked up the courage to hand back the £10m he has taken from him?”
In responses that brought angry shouts from Labour benches, Sunak sought to compare Hester’s comments to those made by Labour MPs, for example Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, referring to Conservatives as “scum”.
He also cited Starmer’s pre-parliament work as a lawyer, and his service as a shadow minister under Jeremy Corbyn, saying: “I am absolutely not going to take any lectures from somebody who chose to represent an antisemitic terrorist group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and who chose to serve a leader who let antisemitism run riot in this Labour party. Those are his actions, those are his values and that’s how he should be judged.”
Starmer replied: “He’s scared of his party. I’ve changed my party.”
The Labour leader added: “He chose to anoint himself as the great healer, to pose as some kind of unifier. But when the man bankrolling his election says the member for Hackney North should be shot, he suddenly finds himself tongue-tied, shrinking in sophistry, hoping he can deflect for long enough that will all go away.
“You have to wonder what the point is of a prime minister who can’t lead, and a party that can’t govern.”
Ministers and No 10 spent 24 hours refusing to say Hester’s remarks were racist until after the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, broke ranks to say they were, late on Tuesday afternoon.
