Diane Abbott is worth more than the Tories and Labour put together

Nine days after Rishi Sunak gave a speech that argued “extremists” who do not share British “values” are endangering our “democracy”, businessman Frank Hester OBE is alleged to have told colleagues during a meeting in 2019 that Diane Abbott, the MP for Hackney North, “should be shot”, and that the very sight of her makes him “want to hate all black women”.

Hester is the largest single donor to the Conservative Party. He gave the Tories £5m last May, and has announced he will donate another £5m later this month.

His software company, the Phoenix Partnership, has received more than £400m from the taxpayer via the NHS, to store the medical records of 60 million patients in the UK. And yet Sunak has yet not come forward to condemn Hester’s comments.

This racism row reveals the dark heart of the Tory party. No wonder Hester is happy to donate such large sums to them.

Solidarity with my MP, who has been abused by racists all her career, and who is still suspended from the parliamentary Labour Party that she served for 36 years. She’s worth more than the Tory party and Keir Starmer’s Labour Party put together.

Sasha Simic

London

How the Conservative Party can declare that they are the party to take care of the population and our economy is beyond belief.

In 2024-2025, our debt, as per the latest Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast, will be 98.8 per cent of GDP. This will require over £100m in payment to service this debt. When the Conservatives came to power, our national debt was £1,076bn; that debt now is £2,646bn.

There have been far too many failed projects, and incompetent financial management. Millions have been wasted on HS2 and Sunak’s vanity Rwanda project, which have brought zero benefits to the economy.

Britain’s credit card is almost exhausted, leaving the taxpayer to foot the bill for the Tories’s failed excessive exploits.

While successive governments played fast and loose with our hard-earned taxes, Britain’s cost of living has risen to an unacceptable level for most people. However, the top 1 per cent of the population have greatly increased their wealth at the expense of our hardships.

The latest Budget seems to have penalised the low-paid and pensioners, of which I am one – no doubt causing many people to reconsider their voting preference. It is an unedifying fact that the majority of people in Britain are considerably worse off since the Tories came to power in 2010.

Spending our money like wastewater, trashing our economy, and blighting our children’s future is unforgivable. Hopefully, their days are numbered.

Keith Poole

Basingstoke

A barge with 200 tonnes of aid for Gaza should be leaving Cyprus soon, although it’s not yet known how the contents are going to be offloaded.

The United States hopes to build a jetty to alleviate the aid problem. But can someone explain to me why the crossing from Egypt directly into Gaza isn’t being used as it should?

It seems that Israel isn’t allowing aid to go through the crossing without extensive checks, which is limiting the number of trucks allowed to use the crossing. But Egypt is a sovereign country, so why does the Egyptian government allow Israel to interfere? Or the US, for that matter?

If the Americans wanted to get aid into Gaza quicker, could it not prevail upon the Egyptian government to assist? Or push back against the Israelis?

To date, 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza. At what stage does the world hold up its hands and say enough is enough? Will it take 50,000 deaths? 100,000? A quarter of a million? Because at the moment, Israel shows no sign of stopping.

Paul Moore

West Horsley

The SNP has introduced an Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill that offers little clarity to farmers and crofters on how future funding will operate.

They have already cut £78m from the rural affairs budget for 2024-25.

Supported by the Greens, they have also voted through the excessive Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill, which will remove vital tools that farmers and land managers need to conserve wildlife and promote biodiversity.

In order to protect our rural economy, culture, and way of life the SNP and the Green Party must be voted out in every corner of Scotland.

Alastair Redman

Isle of Islay