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Watch: Abbott stood up in an effort to catch the Speaker’s attention 46 times
Diane Abbott has warned the Conservatives will ruthlessly play “the race card” ahead of the general election, as the row around remarks about her by a party donor continues.
Rishi Sunak says he will not return £10m from Frank Hester, who allegedly said Ms Abbott made him “want to hate all black women”.
The PM called the alleged comments racist. Mr Hester has apologised.
Ms Abbott says she was “upset but not surprised” when she learned of them.
In an article for the Guardian, the former Labour MP said this was partly because she was “hardened to racist abuse” as someone who received hundreds of abusive messages and calls every month.
She said the Tories were “desperate” before a general election, but had blown their political trump card – “low taxes and the sound management of the economy”.
“So the only card the Tories have left to play is the race card, and they are going to play it ruthlessly,” she said.
The article was published a day after Ms Abbott unsuccessfully tried more than 40 times to get the Speaker’s attention so she could contribute to Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament.
Ms Abbott said she was “not convinced” by Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s explanation that there was not enough time to call all members who wanted to ask a question.
The row over returning Mr Hester’s money was sparked by an article in Monday’s Guardian.
It reported that in 2019 Mr Hester said: “It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you’re just like I hate, you just want to 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.”
The BBC has not heard a recording, or been able to independently verify the alleged remarks. Mr Hester has been asked whether the reported comments are accurate.
In a statement released on Monday, Mr Hester’s company said he “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”.
Mr Sunak has said the alleged comments were “wrong” and “racist”, but has repeatedly told MPs Mr Hester had apologised and his “remorse should be accepted”.
“There is no place for racism in Britain, and the government I lead is living proof of that,” he said on Wednesday.
Ms Abbott sits as an independent MP after being suspended by Labour in April last year after she write in the Observer that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people were not subject to racism “all their lives”.
She withdrew her remarks and apologised “for any anguish caused”.
Ms Abbott remains under investigation by Labour over the letter, but says in her Thursday article that it would be “both sad and strange” if party leader Sir Keir Starmer kept her out because of it.
Sir Keir and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn were seen speaking to Ms Abbott on Wednesday after PMQs.
She is understood to have asked Sir Keir to readmit her to the Parliamentary Labour Party, when he asked her if there was anything he could do.
SNP’s Stephen Flynn: Rishi Sunak puts ‘money before morals’ over Hester donations
Sir Keir – who has so far resisted calls to reinstate Ms Abbott as a Labour MP – said the PM should pluck up the “courage to hand back the £10m”.
Ms Abbott also warned Labour to “step up to challenge racism”, claiming the party had failed to apologise to her for the content of WhatsApp messages previously sent about her by some Labour officials, found in a report by Martin Forde KC to have, “consciously or otherwise”, drawn on racist tropes.
Labour did not respond to a request for comment.
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