The Conservatives on Friday defended accepting a further donation from businessman Frank Hester two days after it emerged that he had made “racist and wrong” comments about Diane Abbott.
Children’s Minister David Johnston was pressed on why the donation of £150,000 was accepted by the Tory party on March 14 despite the Guardian reporting his incendiary comments just 48 hours earlier.
It added to £5 million given by the healthcare entrepreneur to the Conservatives in January, on top of £10 million last year, according to newly released data from the Electoral Commission.
Ahead of the General Election on July 4, the Conservatives made clear they were keeping the new donations. Mr Johnston stressed that the donor had apologised for reportedly telling colleagues, in 2019, that Britain’s first black woman MP made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.
“I think Mr Hester’s comment made us all feel uncomfortable and as you rightly say the Prime Minister was clear that they were racist and wrong,” the minister told Sky News.
“Mr Hester himself said that he was deeply sorry for them and that racism has no place in our society. And I think that this was dealt with at the time, in the context of his comments.
“And he's apologised for them. The Prime Minister was clear they were wrong. Other members of the government were clear they were wrong. And it's absolutely right that racism has no place in our society.”
But Labour is accusing Rishi Sunak of having “no integrity” for accepting the money to bankroll the Conservative election machine.
Ms Abbott, who fought a battle with her party leadership to run again as the Labour candidate in Hackney North and Stoke Newington after a long investigation into alleged antisemitism, said Mr Sunak’s actions were an “insult to me and all black women”.
