No 10 says alleged comments about Abbott were racist

Comments allegedly made about Diane Abbott by a Tory donor were “racist and wrong”, Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson has said.

Frank Hester, who has donated £10m to the Tories, reportedly said the MP made him want to “hate all black women”.

Mr Hester apologised for making “rude” comments but said his words “had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

Downing Street initially declined to describe his comments as racist.

But later Mr Sunak’s spokesperson said: “The comments allegedly made by Frank Hester were racist and wrong.

“He has now rightly apologised for the offence caused and where remorse is shown it should be accepted.
”The prime minister is clear there is no place for racism in public life and as the first British-Asian prime minister leading one of the most ethnically diverse Cabinets in our history, the UK is living proof of that fact.”

Earlier, at a briefing for journalists shortly before noon, the prime minister’s spokesperson said Mr Hester’s words were “unacceptable” but without specifying why.

Cabinet Minister Kemi Badenoch then broke ranks with No 10 to describe the comments as “racist”, but she welcomed his apology and called for “space for forgiveness”.

Ms Abbott has reported Mr Hester to the Parliamentary Liaison and Investigations Team, a Met Police unit.

On Tuesday, the Guardian reported that in 2019 Mr Hester said Ms Abbott – Britain’s longest-serving black MP – made him “want to hate all black women” and that she needed “to be shot”.

Ms Abbott, who is currently suspended from sitting as a Labour MP, said the comments were “frightening”.

Ms Badenoch earlier became the most senior minister to call the alleged comments racist – going further than the official government response at the time.

Asked repeatedly this morning if Rishi Sunak would describe the words as racist, the prime minister’s spokeswoman said she would not get into “further characterisation”.

In a social media post, Ms Badenoch, who also serves as the equalities minister, said: “Hester’s 2019 comments, as reported, were racist.

“I welcome his apology. Abbott and I disagree on a lot. But the idea of linking criticism of her, to being a black woman is appalling.

“It’s never acceptable to conflate someone’s views with the colour of their skin.”

Earlier, health minister Maria Caulfield told the BBC she considered the comments to be racist and that she would not accept a donation from Mr Hester “if he made those comments”.

Labour’s shadow women’s health and mental health minister Abena Oppong-Asare has said the comments were “absolutely offensive”.

She said she was “disappointed” the prime minister had not condemned it as “racist and sexist” adding that if he could not label the words as such then he “is not fit to be prime minister”.

The BBC has not heard a recording, or been able to independently verify the alleged remarks.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have called on the Conservatives to return Mr Hester’s donations.

Mr Hester is one of the Conservative’s biggest donors, having given them £5m last year and a further £5m through his company.

In November, he gifted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak the use of a helicopter for a political visit, valued at £15,000, according to parliamentary records.

Mr Hester is reported to have told a meeting at his company’s headquarters: “It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you’re just like I hate, you just want to hate all black women because she’s there, and I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot.”

In a statement released on Monday, Mr Hester’s company said he “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”.

It added: “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.”

Ms Abbott said as a “single woman” she was already “vulnerable” when walking or taking a bus in her Hackney constituency.

“For all of my career as an MP I have thought it important, not to live in a bubble, but to mix and mingle with ordinary people,” she added.

“The fact that two MPs have been murdered in recent years makes talk like this all the more alarming.”

She has now reported Mr Hester to the Parliamentary Liaison and Investigations Team, a police unit set up following the murder of MP Jo Cox in 2016.

It investigates alleged crimes against MPs in their capacity as elected representatives and liaises with Parliamentary Security Department.

Ms Abbott had served as a Labour MP since 1987, but was suspended from sitting in the parliamentary party in 2023 after she said Irish, Jewish and Traveller people were not subject to racism “all their lives”.

She withdrew her remarks and apologised “for any anguish caused”.