The SNP has accused Rishi Sunak of putting “money before morals” after he refused to return £10million from a Tory donor who said the black MP Diane Abbott should be “shot”.
Westminster leader Stephen Flynn savaged the Prime Minister at PMQs, and said the comment by businessman Frank Hester had been “downright bloody dangerous”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also condemned Mr Sunak for a failure of leadership when it came to dealing with Mr Hester, who is the Tory party’s biggest donor.
The health technology entrepreneur who gave the Tories £10 million last year, is alleged to have said in 2019 that Ms Abbott, then Labour’s shadow home secretary, made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.
He has since apologised for being “rude” but denies racism.
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Downing Street initially refused to accept the remarks were racist or sexist.
It only did so last night, 27 hours after The Guardian first broke the story, following Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the remarks were racist.
At a rowdy PMQs, Mr Flynn said: “The Conservative Party have accepted a £10m donation from an individual who has said that one of our Parliamentary colleagues in this chamber should be shot.
“Why is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom putting money before morals?”
Mr Sunak replied: “The comments were wrong, the gentleman in question has apologised for them and that remorse should be accepted.”
Mr Flynn went on: “This is complete rubbish.
“The gentleman in question apologised for being rude, he wasn’t rude: he was racist, he was odious, and he was downright bloody dangerous.
“On Monday, No 10 said we’ve seen an unacceptable rise in extremist activity which is seeking to divide our society and hijack our democratic institutions.
“Isn’t the extremism that we should all be worried about the views of those Tory donors that we’ve read about this week?”
To incredulous laughter from opposition MPs, the PM replied: “There has actually been a rise in extremist activity that is seeking to hijack our democratic institutions. It is important that we have the tools to tackle this threat, that’s what the extremism strategy will do.”
Earlier, Sir Keir also led on the issue, saying it illustrated Mr Sunak’s weakness.
He asked if the PM was “proud to be bankrolled by someone using racist and misogynistic language when he says [Ms Abbott] ‘makes you want to hate all black women?'”
Mr Sunak replied: “The alleged comments were wrong, they were racist, he has rightly apologised for them and that remorse should be accepted.
“There is no place for racism in Britain, and the Government I lead is living proof of that.”
Mr Starmer reminded the chamber Mr Hester said Ms Abbott, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, should be shot.
He said: “How low would he have to sink, what racist, woman-hating threat of violence would he have to make before the Prime Minister plucked up the courage to hand back the £10m that he’s taken from him?”
Mr Sunak repeated his argument that “the gentleman apologised genuinely for his comments and that remorse should be accepted”.
He added: “He talks about language, he might want to reflect on the double standards of his deputy leader calling her opponents scum, his shadow foreign secretary comparing Conservatives to Nazis and the man that he wanted to make chancellor talking about lynching a female minister. His silence on that speaks volumes.”
The Labour leader said that when Mr Sunak had stood outside Downing Street last week to condemn extremism he had wanted to “pose as some kind of unifier” with his speech.
“But when the man bank-rolling his election says [Ms Abbott] should be shot, he suddenly finds himself tongue-tied, shrinking in sophistry, hoping he can deflect for long enough that it will all go away.”
Mr Sunak said he was “absolutely not going to take any lectures” from someone who “chose to serve a leader [Jeremy Corbyn] who let antisemitism run rife in his Labour Party”.
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Sir Keir said: “The problem is that he’s describing a Labour Party that no longer exists.”
He said he had changed his party while Mr Sunak was afraid of his.
“You have to wonder what the point is of a Prime Minister who can’t lead and a party that can’t govern?” Sir Keir told the chamber.
In response to a question from Labour MP Marsha de Cordova about whether he would reimburse Mr Hester for a helicopter ride worth £15,000 last year, Mr Sunak said: Mr Sunak replied: “No. and I’m pleased that the gentleman is supporting a party that represents one of the most diverse governments in this country’s history led by this country’s first British-Asian prime minister.”
Sir Keir was later seen talking to Ms Abbott, who is currently suspended from the Labour party over insensitive comments, in the Commons chamber at the end of PMQs.
Many of her colleagues want her reinstated before the general election.
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