Tory donor under scrutiny for Diane Abbott remarks

Oh dear. The Tory party’s biggest donor Frank Hester is under fire for remarks he made about Diane Abbott in a 2019 meeting. The West Yorkshire businessman is facing intense criticism for unprofessionalism at work after it emerged he had told colleagues that looking at Abbott makes ‘you just want to hate all black women because she’s there’ and that ‘she should be shot’.

Hester has since apologised for his ‘rude’ remarks and a statement from his business says that the donor has attempted to contact Abbott directly to say sorry. A number of Tory MPs backed Hester’s apology on Tuesday morning while admitting that his remarks were ‘wrong’. Lord William Hague called the remarks ‘racist’ on Times Radio, but said: ‘He’s deeply sorry. So I think we should accept the apology.’ Energy minister Graham Stuart admitted he was ‘uncomfortable talking about it’ but said he would ‘hesitate to stick’ a racist ‘label’ on the comments, adding: ‘But that was half a decade ago.