In the latest episode of Tory Telenovelas, Frank Hester, the generous benefactor with a penchant for foot-in-mouth disease, has sparked a Westminster wildfire with his "off-the-cuff" remarks about Diane Abbott. Mr Hester apparently said Diane made him "want to hate all black women" and that “she should be shot” (wow the audacity is nuts).
Rishi Sunak took the whole of Tuesday to call out the remarks from businessman. But despite the condemnation, the prime minister said remorse from the donor "should be accepted". Accepted? What like an enema? Such strong comments about the Hackney Labour party MP (who was the first black female MP might I add) will do more political and cultural damage than the Tories have done in the last 8 years of power!
Ahead of today's Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), Tory business minister Kevin Hollinrake repeated Mr Sunak's criticism, telling 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."…Is he okay? How can you say the comments were CLEARLY racists but the person who made those comments is not? This makes about as much sense as Boris Johnsons hair stylist.
Who will you vote for this year and why?? (Leave your comments below)
The only reason I can think of as to why the Tories are labelling the comments racists but negating people calling Frank Hester a racist is tow fold. A) its election season, so the Conservatives PR team are pandering to the middle of the fence voters; and B) Frank Hester donated £5.1m to the Conservatives since 2019 and another £10m last year!! He also made a single donation of £15,900 to Mr Sunak provided him a helicopter as a taxi to an even in 2023.
Mr Hester has since said he is "deeply sorry" about the but said they had "nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin" (which is 1000% BS). However, Mr Sunak's official 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."
All I can say is Conservatives (and Labour) both have prejudicial skeletons in their closets but let’s conclude with a brief recap of the Tories track record.
Pendle Smith Benson
In 2010, Conservative councillor for Pendle Smith Benson said there were "too many P*kis" in the town, and in 2015, Bob Fahey, a Leicestershire councillor, allegedly referred to a fellow Conservative colleague as a "Ch*nk". Both were allowed to keep their elected positions following these controversies.
David Whittingham
David Whittingham, Conservative councillor for Fareham in Portsmouth, was suspended in 2016 after a racist rant to senior officers, in which he expressed his disapproval of foreigners living on the same road as him.
Rosemary Carroll
In June 2017, Rosemary Carroll (Conservative councillor for – and former mayor of Pendle) was suspended for three months after she compared Asian benefit claimants to dogs in a Facebook post. In June 2018, she regained the seat, allowing the party to gain control of the council that year; the Conservatives did not issue any further disciplinary measures for her actions.
Anne Marie Morris
In July 2017, Conservative MP Anne Marie Morris used the phrase "n*gger in the woodpile" in reference to a "no-deal" Brexit at a meeting of Eurosceptics in central London. The Huffington Post leaked this audio, while noting that no other Conservative MPs on the panel reacted to the racist phraseology. She was suspended from the party on 10 July following her remarks, but, was later restored to the party. Despite this any Conservative party candidate will need to be on their Ps and Qs.. and i dont mean PMQs Primeministers questions
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