Tory donor not ‘racist’ despite alleged Diane Abbott remarks, claims minister

Published

10 months ago

March 13, 2024

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A Conservative minister says he does not believe his party’s biggest donor is a racist, despite alleged comments he made about former Labour MP Diane Abbott – apparently saying she made him “want to hate all black women”.

Rishi Sunak took the whole of Tuesday to call out the remarks from businessman Frank Hester – first reported in the Guardian – eventually saying they were “racist and wrong”.

But despite the condemnation, the prime minister said remorse from the donor “should be accepted”.

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Ahead of today’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), business minister Kevin Hollinrake repeated Mr Sunak’s criticism, telling Wilfred Frost on Sky News that the alleged comments were “clearly racist and wrong and there’s no question… you don’t judge somebody’s character based upon their skin colour”.

However, he added: “I think the key thing now is, is Mr Hester himself a racist? I don’t believe so from what I know, and I don’t know him.

“But I think in the context of what we know in the situation that we know right now, we should try and move on from this now, and I think that’s the right thing to do.”

Mr Hollinrake also appeared to reject calls from opposition parties for the Conservatives to return donations from Mr Hester and his company, healthcare software firm The Phoenix Partnership, totalling £10m.

“I think we should judge in the whole context,” he said. “We’ve got the most diverse cabinet in history. We’ve got the first British Asian prime minister in this country. We’re not a racist party.”

Asked if the Tories were “content to spend” the businessman’s money, the minister replied: “Well, on the basis he’s not a racist and has apologised for what he said, yes.”

After the reports first emerged, Mr Hester – who has personally donated over £5m to the Conservatives since the 2019 election – said he was “deeply sorry” for the “rude” remarks he made about Ms Abbott, including apparently saying she “should be shot”.

But he insisted they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

Since then, the Guardian has reported further comments he is alleged to have made to staff, asking a meeting if there was “no room for the Indians”, before suggesting employees climb on a train roof.

Mr Hester has not responded to the latest allegations.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ms Abbott said it was “frightening” and “alarming” to hear the comments allegedly made about her, especially after the murders of two MPs – Labour’s Jo Cox and Conservative Sir David Amess – in recent years.

“I am a single woman and that makes me vulnerable anyway,” she added. “But to hear someone talking like this is worrying.”

The Metropolitan Police confirmed last night they were assessing the alleged remarks from Mr Hester after officers from the parliamentary liaison and investigation team contacted them.

A spokesperson said both the force and the parliament team were staying in contact with Ms Abbott.

Labour also confirmed yesterday that they were supporting Ms Abbott, despite her being suspended from the party.

Tory ministers faced growing criticism throughout the course of Tuesday as they refused to call Mr Hester’s alleged remarks racist – including Mr Sunak’s official spokesperson.

In the morning, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride told broadcasters the comments were “inappropriate”, but said they weren’t “gender-based or a race-based”, while energy minister Graham Stuart said his party still “welcomed” those who financially supported them.

However, in the afternoon, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch posted on X to say the comments were “racist”, though adding there should be “space for forgiveness”.

By the evening, the prime minister finally released his own statement, 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.”  

But on Wednesday morning, another business minister, Nus Ghani, appeared to take a swipe at her party’s response, tweeting: “Zero tolerance on racism is just a slogan in today’s politics.

“[I] am reminded of Toni Morrison’s quote: ”The people who do this thing, who practice racism, are bereft. That is something distorted about the psyche. It’s a huge waste and it’s a corruption and a distortion’.”

Labour’s shadow paymaster general, Jonathan Ashworth, told Sky News it was “absolutely staggering it took Rishi Sunak 24 hours to condemn these racist, reprehensible comments about Diane Abbott”, saying it showed how “weak” the prime minister was.

He added: “Fundamentally, [Mr Sunak has] taken £10m from this individual. Every Tory MP and candidate handing out leaflets, paying for Facebook advertising, it’s funded by this £10m from this individual, who has made these deeply, deeply racist offensive comments.

“If Rishi Sunak had anything about him, if he had any backbone, he would pay that money back today.”

According to the Westminster Accounts project – a joint venture between Sky News and Tortoise Media to shine a light on how money works in politics – Mr Hester’s Phoenix Partnership has donated £5.1m to the Conservatives since 2019.

The company also made a single donation of £15,900 to Mr Sunak and, according to the prime minister’s entry in the register of members’ financial interests, it involved the “provision of [a] helicopter to fly me to a political visit and event on 23 November 2023”.

Politics

Tulip Siddiq boasted of links with ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Published

10 mins ago

January 13, 2025

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Tulip Siddiq boasted of links with ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Tulip Siddiq has sought to distance herself from her aunt, deposed Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina, claiming they never spoke about politics.

But Sky News can reveal that in a blog written by the now City minister she boasted about how close they were politically and published photos of them together.

In posts written in late 2008 and early 2009, when she was a Labour activist, Ms Siddiq described campaigning with her aunt in Bangladesh’s general election and celebrating her victory.

Our disclosure coincides with a new report in The Times which reveals how the embattled MP’s Labour Party flyers were found in the palace in Dhaka that belonged to her aunt, who was ousted in a coup last year.

The blog is headed: “Tulip Siddiq, member of the Labour Party action team in Bloomsbury and King’s Cross”, and in a post on January 11, 2009, Ms Siddiq told supporters: “I was really busy in Bangladesh as you probably gathered…

“I’ve put up photos of Sheikh Hasina’s post-election press conference at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka.

“The most significant element of this press conference for me was Sheikh Hasina’s insistence that all the political parties in Bangladesh need to work together for the welfare of the country.

“It is no secret that past governments have not worked with the other political parties and we need to change this trend.

“The prime minister emphasised that the Awami League does not support the ‘politics of vengeance’ which is encouraging so let’s hope that a new political culture is created this year.”

She added: “Here’s an action shot of me with the prime minister at the press conference. I’m not sure what I was saying but it probably wasn’t that interesting!”

In a post on January 21, 2009, she wrote: “I was fortunate enough to travel with Sheikh Hasina in her car during election day.

“The prime minister-elect (Prime Ministerial candidate at the time!) drove to several constituencies in Dhaka and stopped quickly at each one to meet the parliamentary candidate or speak to the voters.”

Describing traveling in her aunt’s car, she wrote: “You can see all my photos from election day here… I apologise for the poor quality of some of the pictures. I was taking photos from inside her car which is actually quite difficult!”

“You’ll also see a photo of Dhaka Central Jail. I took that photo because Sheikh Hasina told me that this jail was practically her second home for most of her childhood as her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was under arrest for many years.

“She told me that she visited him with the rest of her family every weekend, so it was a very familiar landmark.”

Earlier, on December 29, 2008, under the heading “Victory!”, Ms Siddiq wrote: “The Awami League have won the elections by a landslide! Sheikh Hasina is the prime minister-elect! I am ecstatic!

“I’ve been on the campaign trail with Sheikh Hasina all day so I don’t really have the energy to write much more but I will do so tomorrow.

“However, I can’t resist uploading a couple of photos. This is Sheikh Hasina’s face just before she heard the results from an unwinnable constituency.

“Here she is after she heard that the Awami League hard work had paid off in that seat.”

The Times reports that political literature of Ms Siddiq, Sir Keir Starmer’s anti-corruption minister, was found at the heavily guarded palace in Dhaka, covered by dust and debris.

At the top of a staircase were items produced by Ms Sidddiq. One was a thank you note to local Labour Party members following her election as MP for Hampstead and Kilburn.

Another was her annual report for 2022, inviting readers to learn about her help for those affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

The new disclosures will pile further pressure on Ms Siddiq and lead to further calls on the prime minister to sack her.

Many Labour MPs believe her ministerial career is now hanging by a thread.

On Sky News earlier, cabinet minister Peter Kyle told Trevor Phillips Ms Siddiq was right to submit herself to an ethics investigation over corruption allegations and strongly hinted she would be sacked if found to have broken the ministerial code.

Asked whether she should stand down until she is cleared of impropriety, Mr Kyle said: “I think she’s done exactly the right thing. She’s referred herself that the inquiry needs to go through. I think that that’s the appropriate way forward.

“I’m giving it all the space it needs to do. I’ll be listening for the outcome as the Prime Minister will be.

“There was a process underway and we know full well it will be a functional process, and the outcomes of it will be stuck to by the prime minister and this government, a complete contrast to what we’ve had in the past.”

Sky News has approached Ms Siddiq and the Labour Party for comment.

Politics

Even if Tulip Siddiq resigns, the damage may already be done to Sir Keir Starmer

Published

10 mins ago

January 13, 2025

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Even if Tulip Siddiq resigns, the damage may already be done to Sir Keir Starmer

There comes a point in the arc of most political scandals after which a resignation risks prompting more questions than it answers.

The danger for Tulip Siddiq – and by extension Sir Keir Starmer – is that threshold may about to be passed, if it hasn’t been already.

In other words, if she goes now, plenty will wonder why it didn’t happen sooner and why Downing Street allowed the story to gather pace and inflict further damage before acting.

The answer to this is partly because nothing has emerged so far that’s such an explicit rule break that it would trigger an automatic sacking or resignation.

That means the affair still resides – just about – in the box marked “looks bad” rather than the more sinister one marked “is bad”.

The standards adviser has been asked to “establish the facts” – a classic political technique to try and smother a story by announcing an inquiry.

What are the allegations against Ms Siddiq?

The allegations centre on financial links between Tulip Siddiq and political allies of her aunt – the former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina.

Ms Siddiq currently rents a £2m house in north London owned by a businessman with reported links to Ms Hasina’s Awami League party.

She also owns a flat in central London that the Financial Times reports was gifted to her by an ally of her aunt.

And she was registered at another London property that was transferred to her sister in 2009 by a lawyer who has represented Ms Hasina’s government.

Cabinet minister Peter Kyle told Sky News the outcome of that exercise “will be stuck to”, meaning the junior Treasury minister will be relieved of her responsibilities if a breach of the government’s code of conduct is identified.

But some within Labour are contrasting this case with the rapid resignation of Louise Haigh as transport secretary after Sky News revealed she had pleaded guilty to an offence in court shortly before becoming an MP.

They suggest the key difference is that Ms Haigh was relatively left-wing and at odds with some in Downing Street, while Ms Siddiq is a constituency neighbour and ally of the prime minister.

“Keir Starmer has been consistently ruthless against people perceived to be more on the left of the party and very lenient with people perceived to be more on the right of the party,” said former Jeremy Corbyn adviser Andrew Fisher.

A counter to this is that Ms Siddiq is not a cabinet minister.

That said, she does oversee efforts to combat financial crime, money laundering and corruption – three activities she is now finding herself linked to, albeit in a different country.

The fact she pulled out from the chancellor’s trip to China this weekend also opens an easy attack line that the story is already stopping her from doing her job.

So where does this go now?

There is a chance that something may emerge that forces an immediate departure.

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Engaging the standards adviser may also backfire if a technical breach potentially relating to declarations or conflicts of interest is found.

But a third option is potentially most damaging for the government – that Ms Siddiq becomes politically paralysed by the volume of stories surfacing and is forced to step down simply to stem the flow.

Politics

UK to ‘mainline AI in the veins’ under new plans from Sir Keir Starmer

Published

10 mins ago

January 13, 2025

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UK to 'mainline AI in the veins' under new plans from Sir Keir Starmer

The government will “mainline AI into the veins” of the UK, with plans being unveiled today by Sir Keir Starmer.

The prime minister is set to promise investment, jobs and economic growth due to a boom in the sector.

It comes as his government battles against allegations they are mismanaging the economy and stymied growth with the budget last autumn.

The government’s announcement claims that, if AI is “fully embraced”, it could bring £47bn to the economy every year.

And it says that £14bn is set to be invested by the private sector, bringing around 13,000 jobs.

The majority of those would be construction roles to build new data centres and other infrastructure, with a smaller number of technical jobs once the work is finished.

Sir Keir said: “Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. From teachers personalising lessons, to supporting small businesses with their record-keeping, to speeding up planning applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people.

“But the AI industry needs a government that is on their side, one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers. And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.”

The prime minister added that he wants Britain to be “the world leader” in AI.

The government announcement said: “Today’s plan mainlines AI into the veins of this enterprising nation.”

To achieve this, the government will implement all 50 recommendations made by Matt Clifford following his review last year.

This includes creating new AI “growth zones” – the first of which is set to be in Culham, Oxfordshire, where the UK’s Atomic Energy Authority is based.

These zones will get faster planning decisions and extra power infrastructure.

The government also wants to increase UK computing power 20-fold by 2030, including by building a brand-new supercomputer.

Labour cancelled a planned supercomputer when it entered office, as it claimed it wasn’t funded. The new venture is expected to be a joint public-private project.

The government says its plans will have three pillars. This includes laying the foundations with new AI growth zones and the new supercomputer.

The second is to boost AI take up by the public and private sectors. New pilots for AI in the public service are set to be announced, and Sir Keir has written to all cabinet ministers, telling them to drive AI adoption and growth.

And the third pillar is keeping ahead of the pack, with the government set to establish a “team” to keep the UK “at the forefront of emerging technology”.

The announcement was welcomed by a slew of technology bosses.

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Chris Lehane, the chief global affairs officer at OpenAI, which released ChatGPT, said: “The government’s AI action plan – led by the prime minister and [Science] Secretary Peter Kyle – recognises where AI development is headed and sets the UK on the right path to benefit from its growth.

“The UK has an enormous national resource in the talent of its people, institutions and businesses which together, can leverage AI to advance the country’s national interest.”

The shadow secretary for science, innovation and technology, Alan Mak, said: “Labour’s plan will not support the UK to become a tech and science superpower. They’re delivering analogue government in a digital age.

“Shaping a successful AI future requires investment, but in the six months leading up to this plan, Labour cut £1.3bn in funding for Britain’s first next-generation supercomputer and AI research whilst imposing a national insurance jobs tax that will cost business in the digital sector £1.66bn.

“AI does have the potential to transform public services, but Labour’s economic mismanagement and uninspiring plan will mean Britain is left behind.”