Lee Anderson slams Sunak for not using ‘same discipline’ with Tory donor over racism row: ‘Voters want consistency!’

According to The Guardian, Hester reportedly claimed that seeing Diane Abbott on TV made him "want to hate all black women" and said Abbott "she should be shot".

Hester, who has given £10million to the Conservative Party in the last year alone, released a statement on the comments via a spokesperson, who said he "accepts that he was rude" about Abbott, but his criticism had "nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin".

Responding to the racism row, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also released a statement on the matter, saying: "The comments allegedly made by Frank Hester were racist and wrong. He has now rightly apologised for the offence caused and where remorse is shown it should be accepted.

"The Prime Minister is clear there is no place for racism in public life and as the first British-Asian Prime Minister leading one of the most ethnically diverse Cabinets in our history, the UK is living proof of that fact."

Speaking to GB News, Reform UK's Lee Anderson criticised the Tory leader's handling of the row in comparison with his recent scandal within the party, resulting in his defection to Reform.

Anderson called on Sunak to use the "same sort of discipline" with Hester as he did with him after his whip was removed swiftly after his comments about London Mayor Sadiq Khan were published.

Anderson told host Martin Daubney: "I haven't got £10million lying about in the bank. And this chap who's made these alleged racist comments, he's got a few quid which he donated to the party."

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Anderson explained: "I think a lot of people out there would be asking now for consistency. If you're going to have one bloke say some nasty things, surely you should use the same sort of discipline.

"I lost the whip, and he's apologised and just moved on."

Anderson was then challenged on his comments by GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope, who noted that the Reform MP didn't apologise for his comments, and made reference to "Sadiq Khan's race and religion".

He denied Christopher's claim, hitting back: "It's not a race Chopper. We've had this conversation many, many times. I'm surprised you're bringing this up once again. Islam is not a race, so there's nothing I said in my speech in this very studio that was racist."

Discussing Lee Anderson's move to Reform, Martin asked him about his decision and why he claimed he was "doing it for his country".

Anderson responded: "I want my country back. I want to go back to a time where you could get a school place, you could go to school and not be told you're a different sex as everybody else. I want to go back to a place where you could ring the doctor up at eight in the morning, and get an appointment that day.

"I want to go back to a place where you could ring the dentist and having a dodgy tooth pulled out the same day without waiting for three weeks in agony, and going to buy a pair of pliers. I don't want to see 25 different types of toilets in buildings for different genders. You know, there's all these sorts of things."