Minister calls Tory donor Frank Hester’s Diane Abbott comments ‘completely unacceptable’ but refuses to go further – UK politics live

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'Just abhorrent' - Starmer urges Tories to return £10m it received from donor who was abusive about Diane Abbott

Keir Starmer has said that comments about Diane Abbott by the Conservative party’s biggest donor were “abhorrent,” as the Labour leader urged the Conservatives to return £10m given to it by the businessman.

The labour leader also attacked a minister who declined to describe Frank Hester’s comments as “racist” when asked about them in interviews this morning. (See 10.01am.)

The Labour leader told ITV’s Lorraine on Tuesday:

The comments about Diane Abbott are just abhorrent.

And Diane has been a trailblazer, she has paved the way for others, she’s probably faced more abuse than any other politician over the years on a sustained basis.

And I’m sorry, this apology this morning that is pretending that what was said wasn’t racist or anything to do with the fact she’s a woman, I don’t buy that I’m afraid, and I think that it’s time the Tory Party called it out and returned the money.

Hester has issued a statement saying he accepted he was “rude” about Abbott in a private meeting, but that “his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

Good morning. Graham Stuart, the energy minister, has had the job of being the government’s all-purpose spokesperson this morning. He was doing the interview round to discuss an announcement about building new gas-fired power stations, but inevitably he has faced questions about the Guardian’s splash about Frank Hester, the biggest donor to the Conservative party.

To recap: the Guardian reports that at a meeting at his firm’s HQ in 2019 Hester spoke about an executive from another organisation, saying:

She’s shit. She’s the shittest person. Honestly I try not to be sexist but when I meet somebody like [the executive], I just …

It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV and you’re just like, I hate, 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.

After the story was published Hester issued a statement saying he accepted he was “rude” about Abbott in a private meeting, but that “his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

The BBC reports that a spokesperson for Hester says this should not be read as confirmation that Hester said the words attributed to him. But Hester has not denied saying those words either.

Here are some of the points Stuart has been making in response to questions about this story.

Stuart said Hester’s comments were “absolutely unacceptable”, but he declined to describe them as racists. Asked on Times Radio if the comments were racist, Stuart said:

I find it absolutely unacceptable. I hesitate to stick that particular label on it. 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.

Stuart claimed on the Today programme that the comments attributed to Hester by the Guardian “haven’t been verified”. (That is not fair on the Guardian; we would not have published them if we had not verified them.)

Stuart said people should not be cancelled in public life because of comments made in the past and refused to accept that the Tories should return his donations. Asked on Sky News if the Conservative party should return the £10m it has received from Hester, Stuart replied:

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.

It’s not my decision, but I do welcome those who support the Conservative party.

Stuart made the same argument in his Today interview, saying he would not approve of “cancelling anyone who’s ever said anything half a decade ago”.

He told the Today programme that vilification of the kind experienced by Abbott “will drive good people out of politics”.

He admitted on the Today programme that he was “uncomfortable” answering questions about Hester because “he was clearly wrong”.

He said Hester deserved “understanding”. He told the Today programme:

We need to show understanding. The important thing was that he did apologise and that he’s done so, and I think quite right. Though, as I say, I don’t know exactly what it was he said … It is not something of which he or we can be proud.

Here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: Rishi Sunak chairs cabinet, including a political cabinet session.

10.15am: Richard Hughes, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee about the budget. At 2.15pm Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, give evidence.

11am: Michelle Donelan, the science secretary, gives evidence to the Lords science committee

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

1.30pm: Claire Countinho, the energy secretary, gives a speech at the Chatham House Energy Transitions Conference.

3.10pm: David Cameron, the foreign secretary, takes questions in the House of Lords.

Around 4pm: Peers start the debate on the third reading of the safety of Rwanda (asylum and immigration) bill.

I’m afraid we will have to have comments off, at least for the start of the day, because the Hester story is attracting a lot of libellous or potentially libellous comments making moderation very difficult.

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