The Conservative Party is still in talks about a reported additional £5million from a donor embroiled in a race row over comments he is reported to have made about Diane Abbott.
Senior and well-placed Tories have confirmed to GB News that the Tories are in talks about the additional £5million donation from Frank Hester, in additional to the £10million which the millionaire businessman gave to the party last year.
However, the £5million has not yet been handed over, contrary to reports today that it had been received by Conservative Central Office and was awaiting disclosure by the Electoral Commission.
One very senior Tory told GB News that the additional £5million donation had been "in the ether for ages" after Hester's initial £10million donation, but he had not been handed over. "He wants to give again," said the very senior source. "I hope he will. He is not a racist."
The Conservative Party is still in talks about a reported an additional £5million from a donor embroiled in a race row over comments he is reported to have made about Diane Abbott
PA
The fact that Hester is yet to hand over the £5million could explain the reluctance of Downing Street to condemn the remarks as racist when they first emerged.
The source said the hope was that Hester can be persuaded to donate, despite The Guardian reporting that he allegedly told staff that Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and “should be shot”.
The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington sits as an independent after being stripped of the Labour whip last year for suggesting that Jewish people did not suffer racism “all their lives”.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has so far refused to return the £10 million to Hester over the reported remarks, which the Prime Minister called “racist and wrong”.
Sunak said on Thursday: “What he said was wrong and racist. I made that clear, and it’s right that he’s apologised for that. And where remorse is shown, I think that should be accepted.”
Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour Party Chair, called for the Conservative Party to "cut ties" with Hester.
She said: "It is frankly staggering that, after his repugnant racist and sexist remarks, the Conservative Party are still trying to arrange a donation from Frank Hester. It shows the depths to which the Tory Party has fallen.
"The Conservatives need to pay back every penny, cut ties with Frank Hester and apologise unequivocally to Diane Abbott.
“And Rishi Sunak needs to grow a backbone and deal with the extreme views that appear to be tolerated in his party.”
A Conservative spokesman has said: “Declarable donations will be published by the Electoral Commission in the usual way.”
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A spokesman for Hester said earlier this week: “Frank Hester accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbot 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 1970s.
“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.”