No 10 won’t say if donor made racist comment

DOWNING Street has described comments reportedly made by a major Conservative Party donor about MP Diane Abbott as “unacceptable” but has refused to say whether they were racist.

Leeds businessman Frank Hester is alleged to have said Ms Abbott, Britain’s longest-serving black MP, made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.

Energy Minister Graham Stuart said that while the remarks were “ridiculous”, he would “hesitate” to describe them as racist.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats branded Mr Hester’s reported comments as “clearly racist and abhorrent” and urged the Tories to return the money he has donated to the party. Ms Abbott said the comments were “frightening” given two MPs have been murdered in recent years.

The PM’s official spokesman said: “I wouldn’t usually comment on alleged words, second-hand accounts, but what is alleged to have been said is clearly unacceptable.” Mr Hester, chief executive of healthcare software firm The Phoenix Partnership, admitted making “rude” comments about Ms Abbott, but claimed they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

The Guardian reported that he told a company meeting in 2019: “It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you’re just like… 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, Mr Hester said he had rung Ms Abbott on Monday to “apologise directly for the hurt he has caused her”.

“Frank Hester accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbot (sic) in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin. He wishes to make it clear that he regards racism as a poison which has no place in public life.”