Frank Hester: More than half of public think Tories should return donor’s money after racism row, poll finds
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.
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Badenoch thinks the Conservatives should keep the donations
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.”
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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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Row over how many farms will be affected by inheritance tax policy – as PM doubles down ahead of farmers protest
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted the “vast majority of farmers” will not be affected by changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) ahead of a protest outside parliament on Tuesday.
It follows Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing a 20% inheritance tax that will apply to farms worth more than £1m from April 2026, where they were previously exempt.
But the prime minister looked to quell fears as he resisted calls to change course.
Speaking from the G20 summit in Brazil, he said: “If you take a typical case of a couple wanting to pass a family farm down to one of their children, which would be a very typical example, with all of the thresholds in place, that’s £3m before any inheritance tax is paid.”
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The comments come as thousands of farmers, including celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson, are due to descend on Whitehall on Tuesday to protest the change.
And 1,800 more will take part in a “mass lobby” where members of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) will meet their MPs in parliament to urge them to ask Ms Reeves to reconsider the policy.
Speaking to broadcasters, Sir Keir insisted the government is supportive of farmers, pointing to a £5bn investment announced for them in the budget.
He said: “I’m confident that the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected at all by that aspect of the budget.
“They will be affected by the £5bn that we’re putting into farming. And I’m very happy to work with farmers on that.”
Sir Keir’s spokesman made a similar argument earlier on Monday, saying the government expects 73% of farms to not be affected by the change.
Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs Secretary Steve Reed said only about 500 out of the UK’s 209,000 farms would be affected, according to Treasury calculations.
However, that number has been questioned by several farming groups and the Conservatives.
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The NFU said the real number is about two-thirds, with its president Tom Bradshaw calling the government’s figures “misleading” and accusing it of not understanding the sector.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the policy could affect 70,000 farms.
Conservative shadow farming minister Robbie Moore accused the government last week of “regurgitating” figures that represent “past claimants of agricultural property relief, not combined with business property relief” because he said the Treasury does not have that data.
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Agricultural property relief (APR) currently provides farmers 100% relief from paying inheritance tax on agricultural land or pasture used for rearing livestock or fish, and can include woodland and buildings, such as farmhouses, if they are necessary for that land to function.
Farmers can also claim business property relief (BPR), providing 50% or 100% relief on assets used by a trading business, which for farmers could include land, buildings, plant or machinery used by the business, farm shops and holiday cottages.
APR and BPR can often apply to the same asset, especially farmed land, but APR should be the priority, however BPR can be claimed in addition if APR does not cover the full value (e.g. if the land has development value above its agricultural value).
APR and BPR can apply to farmland, which the Conservatives say has been overlooked by the Treasury in compiling its impact figures. File pic: iStock
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Mr Moore said the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Treasury have disagreed on how many farms will be impacted “by as much as 40%” due to the lack of data on farmers using BPR.
Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said last week1,400 farmers in Cumbria, where he is an MP, will be affected and will not be able to afford to pay the tax as many are on less than the minimum wage despite being asset rich.
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