Kemi Badenoch has found herself at odds with Downing Street over remarks made by Tory donor Frank Hester about Diane Abbott.
He told colleagues that Diane Abbott "should be shot", allegedly adding that looking at her makes you "want to hate all black women".
This afternoon, the Business Secretary publicly described Hester's remarks as "racist". But just 15 minutes earlier, the Prime Minister's spokesperson had refused to do so, instead describing them as "unacceptable".
Hester, who has since apologised for the remarks, has given £10million to the Conservative Party in the last year alone.
Kemi Badenoch has found herself at odds with Downing Street over remarks made by Tory donor Frank Hester about Diane Abbott
PA
In a statement at 4pm this afternoon, posted to X, Badenoch said: "Hester’s 2019 comments, as reported, were racist. I welcome his apology.
"Abbott and I disagree on a lot. But the idea of linking criticism of her, to being a black woman is appalling.
"It’s never acceptable to conflate someone’s views with the colour of their skin.
"MPs have a difficult job balancing multiple interests - often under threats of intimidation as we saw recently in parliament."
She added: "Some people make flippant comments without thinking of this context. This is why there needs to be space for forgiveness where there is contrition."
But just 15 minutes before, the Prime Minister's official spokesperson avoided using the word "racist", this afternoon telling reporters: "What is alleged and reported to have been said would clearly have been unacceptable, but we are not going to characterise further alleged comments from source reporting."
According to the Guardian, in a meeting in 2019, Hester allegedly spoke about an executive from another organisation, saying: "She’s s***. She’s the s****est 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.
"[The executive] and Diane Abbott need to be shot. She’s stupid … If we can get [the executive] being unprofessional we can get her sacked. It’s not as good as her dying. It would be much better if she died. She’s consuming resource. She’s eating food that other people could eat. You know?"
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
A spokesperson for Frank Hester said: "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 1970’s.
"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."