Northern England’s police force disclosed on Friday they’re diggin’ into allegations that the Conservative government’s top donor made racially charged statements, which included a shocking remark that a Black MP made him “wanna despise all Black women” and even that “she oughta be shot.”
Frank Hester, the big boss at The Phoenix Partnership, a healthcare software company, is said to have spouted these words back in 2019 regarding Diane Abbott, who made history as the first Black woman in the House of Commons.
West Yorkshire Police are on the case, sifting through the details to figure out if Frank crossed the line into criminal territory.
Hester’s come out and said sorry for being “rude” ’bout Abbott but swears up and down that he ain’t no racist.
Meanwhile, the Conservative crew’s holding tight to the 10 million pounds ($12.6 million) that Hester’s forked over to them, despite the other side’s MPs hollerin’ for them to give it back.
The Guardian dropped this bombshell on March 11, and it’s got the Tories tangled up as they’re tryin’ to slam the comments but took nearly a full day to straight-up call ’em racist. They’re looking down the barrel of an election later this year, and the polls ain’t looking too hot for them, with Labour way out in front.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak threw shade at Hester’s words, dubbing ‘em “unacceptable,” but only after Kemi Badenoch, a Cabinet minister who’s Black, went rogue and tagged the comments as racist did his spokesperson follow suit.
Sunak told the MPs that Hester was on point to apologize and that folks should take his “I’m sorry” at face value.
Since 2016, Hester’s company has bagged over 400 million pounds ($504 million) from the National Health Service and other gov departments, The Guardian says.
The chit-chat that’s stirred up all this mess reportedly happened in Leeds at a company gathering.
Hester’s alleged to have said something like: “Trying not to be racist, but seeing Diane Abbott on TV just sparks this feeling… makes you just wanna hate all Black women, which I don’t, but I reckon she should be shot.”
The coppers are calling for anyone in the know to spill the beans.
“We get why people are steamed over this and thank y’all for reaching out since the story hit. If you’ve got the goods that could help our case, we’re all ears,” the police statement read.
Abbott, now 70, took her seat in Commons back in ’87, stands for a slice of northeast London, and has spoken out about how these remarks are downright chilling, especially given that two UK MPs have been killed since 2016. Amidst heightened tensions from the Israel-Hamas conflict, the gov announced last month a boost in security measures for politicians.
Abbott’s riding solo these days, having been booted from the Labour Party group last year after making comments about Jewish and Irish folks’ experiences with racism.
