Patten tells Tories to return donor’s £10m

Former chairman urges party to hand back cash to Hester amid row over alleged racist comments

A FORMER Tory chairman has urged Rishi Sunak to hand back £10million from the Conservatives’ biggest donor, insisting a racism row over alleged comments about Diane Abbott is an “open and shut” case.

Pressure is mounting on the Tories after Frank Hester allegedly said Diane Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women” and “should be shot”.

The Prime Minister has suggested he does intend to give back the money as Mr Hester’s “remorse should be accepted”. But Lord Patten, a Tory peer, asked how the party could possibly take “10 million smackers” of the entrepreneur’s money if he had made “racist” comments.

It comes as the Scottish Tories have said the UK party should “carefully review the donations it has received from Hester in response to his remarks”. Andy Street, a Conservative mayor, has also said he would hand back the money.

In an interview with Times Radio, Lord Patten said: “If he’s made remarks which are racist, how can you in a reasonable way take 10 million smackers of his money?

“It seems to me that it’s pretty open and shut, as people like Andy Street and others have said.

“So I think the sooner this is brought to an end the better. And as soon as this donor’s bank account has got another £10 million in it, which he probably doesn’t need, the better.” Mr Sunak indicated that he did not intend to return the donations when challenged by Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday.

The Labour leader asked him whether he was “proud to be bankrolled by someone using racist and misogynistic language”.

The Prime Minister replied: “The alleged comments were wrong, they were racist, he has rightly apologised for them and that remorse should be accepted.

“There is no place for racism in Britain, and the Government I lead is living proof of that.”

Ms Abbott could be seen shaking her head at Mr Sunak’s answers, while other Labour MPS cried: “Shame!”

Asked earlier on Wednesday if he would hand back the cash, Mr Street, the West Midlands Mayor, told BBC Radio 4: “I would think about the company I kept and I would give that money back.

“I have to give you my view rather than what the party should do, but I have thought about how I would handle that situation.”

In a statement, the Scottish Tories said: “The Scottish Conservative Party has never accepted a donation from Frank Hester and the UK Conservative Party should carefully review the donations it has received from Hester in response to his remarks.”

The Prime Minister first described Mr Hester’s alleged comments as “racist” on Tuesday night. Downing Street had previously declined to use the term, instead branding them “clearly unacceptable”.

Mr Hester has admitted making “rude” comments about Ms Abbott, but claimed they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”. Downing Street said donations were a matter for CCHQ.

But the Prime Minister’s press secretary reiterated that Mr Hester had apologised.

“He has said very clearly on the record that racism is abhorrent; very strong words,” she said. “And ultimately he has been donating to the most diverse Cabinet in history, led by the first non-white prime minister.”

Lee Anderson, who defected to Reform UK after being stripped of the Tory whip over an Islamophobia row, suggested the Conservatives should return the money to show some “consistency”.

The MP insisted his remarks about Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, were not racist, but said the party should show “the same sort of discipline” towards Mr Hester that he received.