“There is no place for racism in Britain and the government that I lead is living proof of that,” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told members of Parliament in the House of Commons this week amid a row over the language used by a Conservative Party donor.
“The alleged comments were wrong, they were racist and he has rightly apologised for them and that remorse should be accepted,” he declared.
He was referring to a ‘Guardian’ newspaper report claiming the chief of healthcare technology firm Phoenix Partnership (TPP), Frank Hester, said in a meeting back in 2019 that Opposition Labour Party MP Diane Abbott makes him “hate all black women because she's there, and I don't hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot”.
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A statement from TPP said Hester, who has donated around £10 million to the Tory party over the past year, “accepts that he was rude about Diane Abbott in a private meeting several years ago but his criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.
While admitting his comments were wrong, Sunak reiterated that as a donor he was supporting “one of the most diverse governments in this country’s history, led by this country’s first British Asian Prime Minister”.
During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) this week, Sunak also reiterated his commitment to combatting extremism as the UK government prepares to table a widened definition to ban groups or individuals who promote an ideology based on intolerance, hatred or violence.
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He noted: “Discrimination has no place in our society. It is important to distinguish between strongly felt political debate on one hand and unacceptable acts of abuse, intimidation and violence on the other.
“It is a sensitive matter, but it is one we must tackle because there has been rise in extremists who are trying to hijack our democracy. That must be confronted… It is important that we have the tools to tackle this threat. That is what the extremism strategy will do.”