Minister ‘welcomes all Tory support’ amid row over top donor Frank Hester’s ‘racist’ remarks about Diane Abbott

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A minister has stated he welcomes all monetary contributions to the Conservative Party after a significant donor allegedly stated former Labour MP Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women”.

Graham Stuart stated the Tories would not cease individuals donating to the occasion “because they said something intemperate and wrong in their past”.

Mr Hester, the chief government of The Phoenix Partnership (TPP) who’s recorded as donating £10 million to the Tories final yr, reportedly made incendiary feedback about Ms Abbott throughout a enterprise assembly at his firm headquarters in Leeds in 2019.

Tory opponents have seized on the remarks and urged the governing occasion to present again the money Mr Hester and his firm have donated.

Asked whether or not the Tories ought to return cash donated by Mr Hester, the vitality minister stated: “It’s not my decision, but I do welcome those who support the Conservative Party.”

Quizzed on whether or not he would welcome donations from individuals who had made related feedback, he stated: “I’m saying that I welcome those who contribute and I’m not here to sit in judgment on one remark.”

He added that the businessman’s remarks have been “clearly reprehensible” however added that the feedback have been “half a decade ago”.

The Guardian reported that Mr Hester’s remarks about Ms Abbott – the primary black girl elected to Parliament – have been more likely to have been made when she was shadow residence secretary below former Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn.

He is alleged to have stated: “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.

“(The executive) and Diane Abbott need to be shot.”

Mr Hester has admitted making “rude” feedback about Ms Abbott however stated that they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Stuart condemned the feedback however advised the occasion have been content material with the businessman’s subsequent apology.

He stated: “Well they were clearly reprehensible. He has apologised profusely and rightly, and tried to reach out to Diane Abbott specifically to apologise to her. It was half a decade ago, clearly those comments were wrong, and he’s right to apologise. And I support him in doing so.”

The minister additionally stated he would “hesitate” to explain Mr Hester’s feedback as racist.

Asked on Times Radio whether or not he accepted the feedback have been racist, he stated: “I find it absolutely unacceptable. I hesitate to stick that particular label on it.”

He added: “I’m hesitating to call it that because I don’t like to sit in judgment on these things.

“It was clearly a ridiculous thing to say, he’s rightly apologised for it and here’s a man who’s supporting the most diverse cabinet we’ve ever had under this Conservative Party. We’ve got a Hindu Prime Minister and he’s our biggest donor, so I don’t think this is a man who is a racist.

“But I’ve never met him, I don’t know him and all I know is those comments were inappropriate, wrong, and quite rightly he has tried to reach out to Diane Abbott personally.”

Responding to Mr Stuarts’ feedback, Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain MP stated: “Graham Stuart’s refusal to call out these racist comments was simply jaw-dropping.

“The Conservative party has flat out refused to return these donations despite these comments being inexcusable. How low can you go?

“Rishi Sunak can bunker down and hide in Downing Street as long as he wants but every day he doesn’t return this money is another damning blow to the Conservative party’s credibility.”

Labour MP Sarah Jones additionally instructed Sky News: “The comments were clearly racist and abhorrent, and of course the Conservative Party should be very quick to say these comments were racist and abhorrent, and of course we don’t want money from this kind of person.

“You can tell a lot about somebody from the company they keep, and this has come to light and the Conservatives need to act swiftly to reassure everyone in the country that they know the difference between right and wrong, that they understand when racism is there and when it’s not, and that they are willing to take action when they see it.”

She added: “The Conservative Party needs to respond appropriately and the weak response we have had yesterday from them isn’t good enough.

“Rishi Sunak, we know, is a weak leader. We know he won’t stand up to his own people in his own backbenches, but surely he knows the difference between right and wrong and surely today he will act and give that money back.”

An announcement launched by Mr Hester’s agency stated: “Frank Hester accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbott in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin.

“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 1970’s.

“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.”

In response to a request by the BBC, a spokesperson for Mr Hester stated the assertion is just not a affirmation of the alleged quotes in The Guardian.