Tory donor who said Diane Abbott 'should be shot' gives 'further £5m' to party after he is reported to police
14 March 2024, 22:41 | Updated: 14 March 2024, 22:50
The Conservative Party has reportedly received an additional £5 million from the donor who allegedly said Diane Abbott 'should be shot' - a day after he was reported by the veteran MP to police over the race row.
Frank Hester - who has already given the Tories £10 million since 2019, making him their biggest donor - allegedly said that Ms Abbott makes you "want to hate all black women", The Guardian reported.
Mr Hester also allegedly said Ms Abbott "should be shot".
Despite his involvement in the race row, the businessman who helms the Phoenix Partnerships, has now given them an additional £5 million, according to Tortoise Media.
The huge donation is yet to be declared by the Electoral Commission as it only publishes lists of donations once every three months.
It comes after Ms Abbott, the former shadow home secretary filed the complaint with the Met Police's special parliamentary liaison and investigations team on Wednesday night, first reported by The Independent.
Ms Abbott is both the first Black woman elected into parliament and the longest-serving Black MP.
Although still a member of the Labour Party, she sits in the House of Commons as an Independent since having her whip suspended in April 2023.
It comes after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer refused to say he would let Ms Abbott back into the party, after she lost the whip over a "pretty offensive" letter she wrote in The Observer.
Speaking to LBC, Sir Keir acknowledged that Ms Abbott had faced a lot of abuse, but also insisted that the issue could not be conflated with the ongoing investigation.
“The abuse against Diane Abbott that’s gone on for many, many years is abhorrent and Diane has suffered more abuse than any other MP – usually racist and misogynistic – but all sorts of abuse," Sir Keir said.
"She’s been a trailblazer as a black MP, paving the way for other people, and all that is to be applauded.
"There’s the separate question of what she said and the investigation into that which needs to be resolved - I don't think you can just conflate the two."
When asked why the investigation has taken so long, Sir Keir argued: "There are aspects to process which take time. It needs to be resolved and that is an independent process – it’s not my process and I’m not going to interfere with it because I think that’s a slippery slope."
He added: "Every case is different, they’re looking at a resolution. It was a pretty offensive letter – this wasn’t just a casual remark."
Sir Keir also called on Rishi Sunak to call an election as early as next week to root out a "rotten approach to politics".
"Call [the election] next week, call it for May 2, the country overwhelmingly wants change," Sir Keir said.
"They want to put an end to 14 years of chaos and division and decline and have the chance to usher in a decade of national renewal.
"I say to the Prime Minister, call it. Have the backbone to call it. Allow this to go to a general election on May 2, we're ready.
"We’ve got a very positive case to put to the country and the sooner I can make that case the better."