THE Tories should hand the £10 million it accepted from a top donor at the centre of a racism storm to a charity of Diane Abbott’s choice, the SNP have said.
It comes after Frank Hester, the multi-millionaire Conservative backer, said Abbott, Britain’s longest-serving black MP, made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.
Hester apologised for being “rude” but has denied being racist. Downing Street eventually conceded that the comments were racist, but has continued to stand by Hester’s money.
On Wednesday, Tory minister Kevin Hollinrake said his party would accept further donations from Hester in the future.
Rishi Sunak later told parliament: “The alleged comments were wrong, they were racist, he has rightly apologised for them and that remorse should be accepted.”
Kristen Oswald, the party’s women and equalities spokesperson at Westminster, said that apologies were “not enough”.
She said: “All forms of racism and discrimination are abhorrent and have no place in our society.
"Frank Hester’s words deserve the highest level of condemnation and an apology should urgently be made to Diane Abbott MP.
“However, strong words and apologies are not enough. The UK Conservative Party must go further by donating the £10m received from Mr Hester (below) to an anti-racist charity of Ms Abbott's choice."
She went on: "The Scottish Tories must also declare and hand back any money received from the disgraced donor.
“This saga has been another deeply shameful episode for the Tories. It should result in real action – not just empty words and promises.”
On Wednesday, the Scottish Conservatives said they had never taken a donation from Hester, and called on their UK bosses to “review” any they had accepted.
Andy Street, the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, has also said that the money would be returned if it were his decision.
Labour and the LibDems have called for the money to be returned to Hester.
Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has further found himself embroiled in the row after he decided not to let Abbott speak at PMQs, despite the comments aimed at her being repeatedly brought up.
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Abbott accused Hoyle of failing to serve “the interests of the Commons or democracy”, and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn called for his resignation.
“Every single Member of Parliament in the Chamber knew that Diane Abbott … was ready to ask a question,” he said. “She had her notes with her. We were all just waiting for it to happen and then the Speaker decided that she's not going to have a voice on this issue.”
“I think it's beyond even me to offer some sort of commentary as to the decision making that the Speaker gave today because it's so outrageously bad,” Flynn added.
In response, a spokesperson for the Speaker said: “During Prime Minister’s Questions, the Speaker must select MPs from either side of the House on an alternating basis for fairness.
"This takes place within a limited time frame, with the chair prioritising embers who are already listed on the order paper.
"This week – as is often the case – there was not enough time to call all members who wanted to ask a question.”
PMQs is expected to run for 30 minutes. It has been known for the occupant in the Speaker’s chair to allow PMQs to run for longer to ensure MPs are called to speak, with some sessions under former speaker John Bercow surpassing the 50-minute mark.
At the end of Wednesday, the Commons business ended 35 minutes before it ordinarily does.
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