Frank Hester: More than half of public think Tories should return donor’s money after racism row, poll finds

Published

1 year ago

March 21, 2024

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More than half of UK adults, including nearly 40% of 2019 Tory voters, still think the party should return the £10m it has received from donor Frank Hester following his comments about Diane Abbott MP, fresh polling shared with Sky News shows.

Research by Savanta also reveals that two-thirds of Conservative voters believe Mr Hester’s remarks about the former Labour MP were racist – a figure that rises to 70% for the wider public.

Savanta surveyed 2,149 UK adults aged over 18 online from 15-17 March, when the Conservatives were fully engulfed in the row over Mr Hester, who is reported to have said Ms Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.

Mr Hester has since said he is “deeply sorry” for his remarks, but that they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

Ms Abbott, who remains suspended from the parliamentary Labour Party, hit out at the “level of racism that is still in Britain” following the row, saying Mr Hester’s remarks showed how “black women are disrespected”.

Since the reports emerged, Rishi Sunak has resisted pressure to return the £10m Mr Hester is known to have donated to the Conservatives last year, despite saying Mr Hester’s comments were “racist” and “wrong”.

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The prime minister’s admission came after Downing Street and several ministers initially refused to say whether the remarks were racist – saying only that they were “wrong”.

Mr Sunak has also refused to confirm whether a further £5m from Mr Hester is in the pipeline – Sky News understands the party is “in talks” about the additional cash.

Earlier this week Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who was the first cabinet minister to say the remarks were “racist”, insisted the government had “drawn a line” under the row and shouldn’t have to give back the money he donated.

“I think if somebody has apologised and the comments appear to have been first of all very flippant, said a long time ago, I think it is fine for us to be able to accept and forgive and draw a line under it,” she told Sky News.

But the Savanta polling found 54% of UK adults think the Conservatives should return Mr Hester’s £10m donation, including 39% of 2019 Conservative voters.

Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta, told Sky News: “The government’s original line in response to Frank Hester’s comments about Diane Abbott was that they were rude but not racist.

“Our research suggests that the public disagrees, including their own voters.

“Leading Conservatives, including the prime minister, have attempted to draw a line under the saga and any future donations from Hester.

“But the majority of the public say they want to see his reported £10m donation returned. That’s the short-term problem.”

Mr Hopkins added: “Longer-term, nearly half of all UK adults believe that racism is widespread in the Conservative Party.

“That is a major electoral and moral challenge for a party that has traditionally struggled with ethnic minority voters.”

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “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.”

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Labour will eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages in a decade, environment secretary says

Published

3 hours ago

July 20, 2025

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Labour will eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages in a decade, environment secretary says

Labour will eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages in 10 years, the environment secretary has told Sky News.

Steve Reed also pledged to halve sewage pollution from water companies by 2030 as he announced £104 billion of private investment to help the government do that.

But he told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips this “isn’t the end of our ambition”.

“Over a decade of national renewal, we’ll be able to eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages,” he said.

“But you have to have staging posts along the way, cutting it in half in five years is a dramatic improvement to the problem getting worse and worse and worse every single year.”

He said the water sector is “absolutely broken” and promised to rebuild it and reform it from “top to bottom”.

His earlier pledge to halve sewage pollution from water companies by 2030 is linked to 2024 levels.

The government said it is the first time ministers have set a clear target to reduce sewage pollution and is part of its efforts to respond to record sewage spills and rising water bills.

Ministers are also aiming to cut phosphorus – which causes harmful algae blooms – in half by 2028.

Mr Reed said families had watched rivers, coastlines and lakes “suffer from record levels of pollution”.

“My pledge to you: the government will halve sewage pollution from water companies by the end of the decade,” he added.

Addressing suggestions wealthier families would be charged more for their water, Mr Reed said there are already “social tariffs” and he does not think more needs to be done, as he pointed out there is help for those struggling to pay water bills.

The announcement comes ahead of the publication of the Independent Water Commission’s landmark review into the sector on Monday morning.

The commission was established by the UK and Welsh governments as part of their joint response to failures in the industry, but ministers have already said they’ll stop short of nationalising water companies.

Mr Reed said he is eagerly awaiting the report’s publication and said he would wait to see what author Sir John Cunliffe says about Ofwat, the water regulator, following suggestions the government is considering scrapping it.

On Friday, the Environment Agency published data which showed serious pollution incidents caused by water firms increased by 60% in England last year, compared with 2023.

Meanwhile, the watchdog has received a record £189m to support hundreds of enforcement officers for inspections and prosecutions.

“One of the largest infrastructure projects in England’s history will clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good,” Mr Reed said.

But the Conservatives have accused the Labour government of having so far “simply copied previous Conservative government policy”.

“Labour’s water plans must also include credible proposals to improve the water system’s resilience to droughts, without placing an additional burden on bill payers and taxpayers,” shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins added.

The Rivers Trust says sewage and wastewater discharges have taken place over the weekend, amid thunderstorms in parts of the UK.

Discharges take place to prevent the system from becoming overwhelmed, with storm overflows used to release extra wastewater and rainwater into rivers and seas.

Water company Southern Water said storm releases are part of the way sewage and drainage systems across the world protect homes, schools and hospitals from flooding.

Politics

GENIUS Act blocks Big Tech, banks from dominating stablecoins: Circle exec

Published

4 hours ago

July 20, 2025

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GENIUS Act blocks Big Tech, banks from dominating stablecoins: Circle exec

Circle’s Dante Disparte says the GENIUS Act ensures tech giants and banks can’t dominate the stablecoin market without facing strict structural and regulatory hurdles.