Should Frank Hester’s £10m Tory donation be returned amid Diane Abbott racism row? Join The Independent Debate
As Britain’s political parties are trying to build up funds for election campaigns later this year, should the Tories return the sum donated by Hester?
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The government is under pressure to return a 10 million pound donation from business executive Frank Hester after racist comments aimed at Diane Abbott were unearthed this week.
Hester, chief executive of healthcare software firm The Phoenix Partnership, reportedly said in a 2019 company meeting that Abbott, Britain’s longest-serving Black legislator, “should be shot” and made him “want to hate all Black women”.
The Conservative Party’s biggest donor, Hester’s company has been paid more than 400 million pounds ($510 million) by the National Health Service and other government bodies since 2016.
After the comments were published by The Guardian newspaper, Hester acknowledged that he’d been “rude about Diane Abbott” but denied being racist.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak initially criticized Hester’s comments as “unacceptable,” but it took almost 24 hours for him to call the remarks racist.
Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake told broadcasters on Wednesday that the party would not give back the money, telling Sky News that “clearly” the comments were racist, but that it was right to keep the donation because Hester “is not a racist, and he has apologized for what he said.”
But Andy Street, the Conservative mayor of England’s West Midlands region, told BBC radio that if it were up to him, “I would think about the company I kept and I would give that money back.”
As Britain’s political parties are trying to build up funds for election campaigns later this year, should the Tories return the sum donated by Hester?
Share your thoughts by adding it in the comments and we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.
All you have to do is sign up and register your details - then you can then take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.
Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.
Join the conversation with other Independent readers below or by clicking here.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments