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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has resisted opposition calls to return money to a Conservative donor who reportedly said MP Diane Abbott “should be shot”.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The PM said Frank Hester’s alleged comments were “wrong” and “racist”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But he repeatedly told MPs Mr Hester had apologised and his “remorse should be accepted”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mr Hester has donated more than \u00a310m to the Tories and in November gifted Mr Sunak the use of a helicopter for a political visit, valued at \u00a315,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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At Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour MP Marsha de Cordova asked Mr Sunak directly if he would return the helicopter donation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n- We’d take more cash from race row Tory donor – minister<\/li>\n
- Tory donor accused of racist Diane Abbott remarks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He replied: “No. And I am pleased that the gentleman is supporting a party that represents one of the most diverse governments in this country’s history, led by this country’s first British Asian prime minister.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ms Abbott – who sits as an independent MP after being suspended by Labour – was in the Commons chamber but did not succeed in getting Speaker Sire Lindsay Hoyle to call her, so she could ask a question of her own.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A spokesperson for Sir Lindsay said he had to prioritise MPs listed on the order paper and “there was not enough time to call all members who wanted to ask a question”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – who has so far resisted calls to reinstate Ms Abbott as a Labour MP – said the PM should pluck up the “courage to hand back the \u00a310m”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“Is the prime minister proud to be bankrolled by someone using racist and misogynistic language when he says the Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) ‘makes you want to hate all black women?’,” Sir Keir asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mr Sunak replied: “The alleged comments were wrong, they were racist, he has rightly apologised for them and that remorse should be accepted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“There is no place for racism in Britain, and the government I lead is living proof of that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Sir Keir also suggested that Mr Sunak had attempted to “pose as some kind of unifier” with his speech on extremism outside Downing Street, but now found himself “tongue-tied, shrinking in sophistry, hoping he can deflect for long enough that it will all go away”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mr Sunak said he was “absolutely not going to take any lectures” from Sir Keir, who he said “chose to serve a leader who let antisemitism run rife in his Labour Party, those are his actions, those are his values and that’s how he should be judged”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Sir Keir responded: “The problem is that he’s describing a Labour Party that no longer exists.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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