CABINET ministers today defended a millionaire Tory donor who sparked fury for saying looking at Diane Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women”.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride called the comments by tech tycoon Frank Hester “inappropriate”.
Frank Hester (left) pictured with Foreign Secretary David Cameron in 2016
AP:Associated PressMr Hester sparked outrage for saying that former Labour MP Diane Abbott should be “shot”[/caption]
But he added that Mr Hester “has apologised and I think we need to move on from that.”
In an excruciating set of interviews Energy Minister Graham Stuart called the comments “uncomfortable” and said he was “uncomfortable talking about it now.”.
Mr Stuart then insisted party donors shouldn’t be “cancelled” for remarks made in the past.
And he said he would “hesitate” to describe the comments about the UK’s longest serving black MP as racist.
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The Energy Minister told Times Radio: “I’m hesitating to call it that because I don’t like to sit in judgment on these things.
We can’t cancel anybody from participation in public life, or indeed donating to parties, because they said something intemperate and wrong in their past.”
Mr Hester triggered outrage last night after it was revealed that he said Ms Abbott “should be shot”.
Labour and Lib Dem MPs called for the Tories to immediately return the £10m in donations they’ve received from the businessman.
Labour chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said: “These comments are reprehensible. This is the Conservatives’ biggest ever donor.
“They must return every penny, in full without delay. Rishi Sunak has claimed that ‘words matter’.
“Keeping that money would suggest the Conservatives condone these disturbing comments.”
Mr Hester runs a healthcare tech firm that has been paid £400 million by the NHS and government bodies since 2016.
In a meeting in 2019, he also said: “I make a lot of jokes about racism, about our different creeds and cultures.
“But I just want to assure you that it is just the most abhorrent thing.”
He added: “I want to clear the air and make sure we all know where we are, what we stand for, and we take the piss out of the fact that all our Chinese girls sit together in Asian corner, which they do.”
After his comments came to light in The Guardian, a spokesperson for the businessman said: “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.”
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