An investigation has been launched by UK Police into alleged racially offensive remarks made by Frank Hester, a Tory party benefactor, about Diane Abbott during a 2019 gathering. The probing occurred under the direction of the West Yorkshire Police force, who are attempting to verify if a crime occurred as a result of Hester’s allegations against Ms Abbott. The said allegations included disturbing statements about racism and violence. Hester supposedly stated that the UK’s longest-serving Black MP inspired him to despise all Black females and suggested that she should be subjected to violence.
The case was transferred to West Yorkshire from London Metropolitan Police as the meeting was held in Horsforth, Leeds. As part of the process, the force spokesperson stated that they are looking into the facts of the case to confirm if a crime took place. The Metropolitan Police was alerted about a report on The Guardian on 11th March, marking the first appearance of these comments to the police. The strong public response to these allegations was acknowledged by the force, as they thanked everyone who came forward since the article’s publication.
Frank Hester has expressed remorse for his inappropriate comments about Diane Abbott, but denies that the comments were influenced by her gender or racial background. The handling of the allegations by Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, have drawn criticism after initially only acknowledging them as racist when Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch rebuked them. Sunak declined earlier demands to return Hester’s donations to the party and argued that the contrition shown by the healthcare tech businessman should be acknowledged. Recent news has suggested that Hester might pledge an additional £5 million, although the electoral commission has yet to confirm this.
Diane Abbott has pointed out that no apology from the Conservative party has been extended to her following the surfacing of the controversial remarks. She told Channel 4 News: “They keep insisting that Hester has apologised. He has not. He apologised for being rude while his comments were in fact, racist. The racism was never addressed. He also incited violence but did not apologise for that either.”