Frank Hester: Tories ‘in talks’ over extra £5m from donor embroiled in Diane Abbott race row

Published

1 year ago

March 16, 2024

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The Conservative Party is “in talks” about an additional £5m from a Tory donor embroiled in a race row, Sky News understands.

Two sources said discussions are ongoing about the extra money from Frank Hester, which if received, would take the amount he has donated since 2019 to £15m.

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The businessman has been embroiled in a race row over comments he is reported to have made about left-wing MP Diane Abbott, including that she “should be shot” and that she makes him “want to hate all black women”.

Reports emerged on Thursday that the donor – who had already given £10m to the party personally and through his firm The Phoenix Partnership (TPP) – may have given another £5m which has not yet been published by the Electoral Commission.

The watchdog only publishes lists of donations every three months but according to Tortoise Media, a Tory source said the party is “sitting on” a further £5m of cash.

However, Sky News understands the money has not yet been handed over.

There has been no official comment from the party on the reports.

Earlier, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the Conservatives are “absolutely” transparent about declaring donations – while refusing to confirm if his party had received more money from Mr Hester.

Asked if that was the case, Mr Hunt did not answer the question directly but said: “We absolutely are transparent. We follow all the rules, the regulations. We believe in that transparency.

“Many of the laws about that we actually passed ourselves and the Conservative Party fully complies with all the requirements to be transparent about all donations.”

Meanwhile, on Thursday the British Medical Association’s general practice committee, which represent all UK GPs, voted in favour of an emergency motion calling on Mr Hester to stand down from the TPP, a healthcare software provider.

The motion read: “This meeting is disgusted by the reported violent, openly racist and misogynistic comments, made by Frank Hester, director of The Phoenix Partnership (TPP), and directed at the Rt Hon Ms Diane Abbott MP.”

Mr Hester’s comments have drawn widespread criticism, with the prime minister describing them as “racist” and “wrong”.

The donor said he was “deeply sorry” for the remarks, but insisted they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

The Tories were already under pressure to hand back the £10m in donations Mr Hester is known to have made since 2019.

In a sign of internal divisions over the row, the Scottish Tories have called for a “review” into the donations with deputy leader Meghan Gallacher saying it would determine “what the party knew and how we can actually move forward”.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Friday, she said she could not comment on the “unverified” donation, but that she would seek clarification from the UK Conservative Party on the report.

While Mr Sunak has condemned Mr Hester’s remarks, he has said his apology should be accepted.

He appeared to rule out handing back the cash during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, saying he was “pleased” the businessman was supporting “one of the most diverse governments in this country’s history”.

Responding to the latest reports, Anneliese Dodds, the Labour Party Chair, 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.”

Politics

US regulator moves to drop appeal against Kalshi

Published

5 hours ago

May 7, 2025

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US regulator moves to drop appeal against Kalshi

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is seeking permission from the court to drop an appeal against prediction market Kalshi. The move could allow the platform to offer political event contracts to users without contest.

In a May 5 filing in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, lawyers for the CFTC filed an unopposed motion for voluntary dismissal, suggesting an agreement with Kalshi. The motion, subject to approval by the court, could end the CFTC’s appeal against a federal court ruling that the financial regulator could not bar Kalshi from listing political event contracts, i.e., bets on elections.

Law, Betting, CFTC, Court — *Motion to dismiss appeal filed by the CFTC on May 5. Source:* *Courtlistener*

Kalshi stipulated in a joint filing that the company would “bear its own costs, court fees and attorney fees incurred” if the court granted the CFTC’s motion to dismiss. The platform said that “election markets are here to stay” in a May 6 X post following the filing.

The betting platform initially filed a lawsuit against the CFTC in 2023 in response to the regulator ordering Kalshi to stop offering political event contracts. The company won in the lower court, prompting the appeal by the CFTC in September 2024.

Motion to drop the appeal after the change in administration?

The case was handled mainly before the US election and the appointment of acting CFTC chair Caroline Pham under President Donald Trump. CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger, nominated by former President Joe Biden, reportedly echoed Kalshi’s sentiment in February, claiming that election prediction markets were “here to stay.”

Launched in 2021, Kalshi became popular among many crypto users in part due to bets related to the 2024 US election. Though the CFTC argued in its appeal that betting on the elections could result in “spectacular manipulation” of markets and harm to the public interest, the regulator under Pham and Trump appeared to have reversed its position with the motion to dismiss.

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Politics

Bitwise throws NEAR ETF in race for SEC approval with S-1 filing

Published

7 hours ago

May 6, 2025

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Bitwise throws NEAR ETF in race for SEC approval with S-1 filing

Digital asset manager Bitwise has filed to list a spot Near exchange-traded fund with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, adding to a growing list of altcoins currently vying to win regulatory approval.

The Bitwise Near (NEAR) ETF will track the price movements of the NEAR token, minus expenses, through a traditional brokerage, Bitwise’s May 6 registration statement shows.

Bitwise named Coinbase Custody as the proposed custodian of the Bitwise NEAR ETF. The management fee, ticker and stock exchange it seeks to list on weren’t named yet.

Bitwise must also file a 19b-4 filing with the SEC to kickstart the regulator’s approval process for the fund. The crypto native asset manager indicated it would make such a filing when it registered a trust linked to the NEAR ETF in Delaware on April 28.

NEAR joins a pile of spot crypto ETFs on the SEC’s desk

The SEC now has at least a dozen spot crypto ETFs to review in 2025, including applications for Litecoin (LTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Hedera (HBAR), Polkadot (DOT), Chainlink (LINK), Avalanche (AVAX), Aptos (APT) and Sui (SUI).

Bitwise already has applications out for a spot DOGE, SOL, and XRP ETFs, and also has an approved spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) ETF, which are listed on the NYSE Arca and have attracted a combined $2.35 billion in net inflows since launching last year.

NEAR — the token powering the layer-1 Near blockchain — is the 44th largest cryptocurrency by market cap at $2.73 billion, CoinGecko data shows.

The Near blockchain was once touted as an Ethereum killer and is considered by its proponents as a solution to the “blockchain trilemma” — the challenge of achieving all three critical aspects of blockchain performance: security, scalability and decentralization.

Through Nightshade sharding, Near can process up to 100,000 transactions per second and is secured by 265 active validators, Nearblocks.io data shows.

The Near ecosystem shifted from decentralized finance to AI infrastructure in 2024, unveiling plans to build the world’s largest open-source large language model.

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Politics

New Hampshire governor signs crypto reserve bill into law

Published

8 hours ago

May 6, 2025

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New Hampshire governor signs crypto reserve bill into law

New Hampshire became the first US state to allow its government to invest in crypto currencies including Bitcoin (BTC), after Governor Kelly Ayotte signed a bill passed by the legislature into law.

In a May 6 notice, Ayotte announced on social media that New Hampshire would be permitted to “invest in cryptocurrency and precious metals” through a bill passed in the state Senate and House of Representatives. House Bill 302, introduced in New Hampshire in January, will allow the state’s treasury to use funds to invest in cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of more than $500 billion, eliminating many tokens and memecoins.

“The Live Free or Die state is leading the way in forging the future of commerce and digital assets,” said New Hampshire Republicans in a May 6 X post.

Law, New Hampshire, United States, Bitcoin Reserve — *Signing New Hampshire’s crypto reserve bill into law on May 6. Source:* *Governor Kelly Ayotte*

With the signing of the bill into law, New Hampshire becomes the first of several US states considering passing legislation to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, including an initiative with the federal government. A similar bill in Arizona passed the state’s House in April but was vetoed by Governor Katie Hobbs on May 2, and Florida’s government withdrew two crypto reserve bills from consideration on May 3.

New Hampshire’s crypto plans to precede the US government’s?

The efforts to create crypto reserves in different US states come as US President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers propose similar policies at the federal level. Trump signed an executive order in March to establish a “Digital Asset Stockpile” and a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.”

Senator Cynthia Lummis, who sponsored the Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) Act, proposed that the US government could hold more than 1 million BTC through civil and criminal forfeiture seizures. The bill is currently being considered by members of the US Senate Banking Committee.

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