Majority of the public think the Tory Party should give away Frank Hester's donation amid racism row
The majority of Britons believe the Conservative Party has a “problem with racism” and should not take cash from donors who make racist statements, a damning new survey has revealed.
In the snap poll carried out following the racist remarks from major Tory donor Frank Hester, 54% of people thought the Tory Party had a problem of racism among its donors, while 56% thought that it had a problem of racism among its MPs.
Just over half of voters also felt there was a problem with racism among Tory members, while Rishi Sunak’s record on making the country more united has also been blasted, with only 36% of the public believing the Tory Party “takes allegations of racism seriously”.
The Conservative Party is facing pressure to return the £10m donated by Hester over the past year, which Sunak has refused. However the survey has found more than half of the public think the party should not keep it, with over 70% saying the money should be handed to an anti-racism charity. Only a quarter through it should be given back to Hester.
At PMQs today, the Prime Minister said the public should accept Hester’s apology, saying his “‘remorse should be accepted”.
The snap poll of 1,001 voters was carried out by pollster JL Partners on behalf of campaign organisation 38 Degrees.
Matthew McGregor, CEO at 38 Degrees, said: “To say that the sight of Diane Abbott, a trailblazing MP who has inspired so many with her pioneering fight for gender and racial justice, on television makes you “want to hate all Black women”: that is racist, that is sexist, that is utterly abhorrent.
“If Frank Hester used those words, the Conservative Party can go some way to show it rejects racism by giving his £10 million straight to charities that fight vile racism like this, and stripping him of his OBE.
“Anyone shown to have used disgusting, violent words like these can’t be allowed to keep one of our country’s highest honours – and shouldn’t be the kind of person the Conservatives want to fund their election campaign.”
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
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