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'This is trivia': Kemi Badenoch hits out at continued furore over Tory donor 'racism' row
18 March 2024, 08:24 | Updated: 18 March 2024, 09:16
Kemi Badenoch has labelled the ongoing Tory donor 'racism' row 'trivia', calling for the Conservative Party to keep Frank Hester's huge £10 million donation.
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“It’s trivia, it really is," the business secretary told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on LBC, referring to the ongoing furore over Mr Hestler's alleged comments about Diane Abbott in 2019.
The businessman is accused of saying Ms Abbott makes you "want to hate all black women", The Guardian reported.
Mr Hester also allegedly said the former shadow home secretary "should be shot".
Speaking to Nick Ferrari today, Ms Badenoch said: “We need to get to a place where we stop chasing people around and looking everywhere for the racism.”
“Everybody is accusing, and counter-accusing around racism,” she continued. "We need to move away from these things and actually focus on what matters to people."
Kemi Badenoch dismisses Frank Hester's 'racism row', calling it 'trivia'
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Following Mr Hester's alleged "racist" comments, Ms Badenoch noted Diane Abbott had also been suspended from the party for "the same thing" - referencing her losing the whip in April last year for suggesting Jews do not face racism.
Although still a member of Labour, Ms Abbott now sits in the House of Commons as an independent MP.
Ms Badenoch also told LBC that the Conservatives should not have to return the huge £10 million donation given to the party by Mr Hester.
The business secretary was the first cabinet member to label Mr Hester's alleged comments "racist" last week.
Asked whether Mr Hester's donations should be handed back, Kemi Badenoch said: "No, I don't think so at all and I am actually quite surprised that people suggest this."
Mr Hester reportedly donated £5 million to the Conservatives in May 2023 and another £5 million to the party via his firm The Phoenix Partnerships in November.
He is also said to have given a further £5 million to the party since the allegations surfaced, according to Tortoise Media. The donation is yet to be declared by the Electoral Commission as it only publishes lists of donations once every three months.
"This was something that happened five years ago. He wasn't talking to Diane Abbott, it wasn't even really about Diane Abbott. He used her in a reference that was completely unacceptable.
"He has apologised for it. I think that it is far more important that we accept the apology and... move on. It is taking too much attention away from what is actually meaningful to people around the country."
Asked whether she was suggesting the Tories were content to take money from people who make racist comments, Ms Badenoch replied: "The point I'm making is that when people apologise, they should be forgiven.
"And these comments were in no way reflective of the work that he has been doing while we have taken his money."
Lawyers for TPP told The Guardian that Mr Hester's alleged comments had been "taken out of context", were "distorted", and "did not accurately represent him or the company".
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Amid speculation that Tory MPs are circling to oust Rishi Sunak ahead of the next general election later this year, Ms Badenoch urged her colleagues to stop being "obsessed with Westminster psychodrama".
Asked by Nick Ferrari what her message was to the plotters, the Tory Cabinet minister said: "I have said many times that people need to stop messing around and get behind the Prime Minister.
"But I think at this particular time, it is really important that we remember that there are thousands of councillors all around the country who are going to be standing for election in May. We need people to focus on what they have been doing to help their local communities and not be obsessed with Westminster psychodrama.
"So it is actually important that we help demonstrate, especially for those Conservative councillors who I want to see re-elected, what the Government has been doing.
"I'm here in Coventry in the West Midlands, look at what is happening with auto, they have had so much investment under (Conservative West Midlands mayor) Andy Street.
"That is what I want people to know about rather than who said what in the tea room in Parliament. It is just Westminster bubble gossip, it is not important."
Nick Ferrari speaks to Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch
