Minister refuses to say whether Tories received extra £5m
Video Credit: ODN - Duration: 00:54s - Published
Minister refuses to say whether Tories received extra £5m
Transport Secretary Mark Harper declines to say whether Frank Hester has donated an extra five million pounds to the Conservative Party, refusing to comment on "hypothetical" questions.
Mr Hester allegedly said in 2019 that Diane Abbott, Britain's longest-serving black MP, made him "want to hate all black women" and that she "should be shot".
Reports emerged this week that Mr Hester may have offered £5 million more, which has not yet been published by the Electoral Commission.
Report by Blairm.
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Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has spoken out about the Tory donor racism row, describing the media's "relentless focus" on the controversy as "trivial." Frank Hester, one of the Conservative Party's top donors, allegedly said left-wing MP Diane Abbott "should be shot" at a private meeting in 2019. "I think this belief that we should not be able to move on and accept when someone has made an apology for historical comments and treat them as if they are contemporary is a problem," she added.
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Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth urges Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to "grow a backbone" and pay back the £10 million donated by Frank Hester after the businessman reportedly made racist comments about black MP Diane Abbott. Report by Blairm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
A group of voters in Diane Abbott's constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington appear to agree she should have the Labour whip reinstated. Abbott was suspended from the party after she wrote a letter that said Jewish people experience prejudice, not racism. But since then, Conservative Party donor Frank Hester allegedly aimed racist and misogynist remarks towards the independent MP, which has sparked a debate about whether she should be welcomed back into the Labour party in a show of solidarity. Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says the Conservative Party "fully complies with all the requirements to be transparent about donations", as reports claim Frank Hester made a further £5m donation to the party. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had already faced pressure to return Frank Hester's £10m donation after he made alleged racist and misogynistic remarks about Diane Abbott. Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Mark Harper insisted the Conservatives were still in with a chance of winning the next general election, despite the party’s local elections trouncing. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Transport Secretary Mark Harper has insisted Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives still have "everything to fight for", despite their terrible results in this.. Sky News
The Labour leader has said Natalie Elphicke has made clear the Conservative Party are "out of road" and "incompetent", following her defection to Labour. Sir Keir Starmer added, "I don't think she's alone", and believes there are "many Conservative supporters and voters" who feel Labour is the "only party that can take our country forward". Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Following the defection of the Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke to Labour, Beth, Ruth and Jess discuss the surprise move and whether it could have been handled.. Sky News
Jess Phillips has revealed that seeing Natalie Elphicke cross the floor to join the Labour Party felt "a bit like being punched in the gut" given the former.. Sky News
Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt has compared Sir Keir Starmer to a crab and accused him of running "Operation Radish" in a bid to convince voters that Labour looks “red on the outside”. Ms Mordaunt said of the recent defections from the Tories to Labour: “What it has exposed is a pattern of behaviour from the Leader of the Opposition.” Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Labour Chair Anneliese Dodds has defended the decision to welcome Natalie Elphicke to the party while Diane Abbott remains suspended.
However, she refused to comment on why the complaint process against Ms Abbott had taken more than a year. Report by Alibhaiz. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Jeremy Corbyn joined the rally in support of Diane Abbott. Former Labour leader called the abuse that Abbott receives 'abominable, almost unbelievable'. Diane Abbott thanked residents of Hackney for 'decades of support' and urged them to ''make sure generations of young black people don't have to suffer the racism that we had to suffer''. Report by Gluszczykm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Sir Keir Starmer says Labour would scrap the government's Rwanda scheme, labelling it a "waste of taxpayers' money". The Labour leader adds a new Border Security Command would help take down people-smuggling gangs in the first place. Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
An ex-prisoner has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order for killing an elderly mobility scooter rider. Lee Byer, 45, was psychotic when he stabbed 87-year-old Thomas O’Halloran in Greenford, west London, in August 2022. Mr O’Halloran, originally from County Clare, was well-known in the Greenford community. Byer, who had had a string of convictions, was released from Wormwood Scrubs five days before the killing. Mental health reports found Byer was psychotic, hearing voices, and suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Rishi Sunak has said that "after a difficult couple of years", the UK has made the case that it is now the "best place" to start and invest in a business. Speaking at a PM Connect event at Siemens Healthineers factory, the prime minister added that the latest ONS figures showing a 0.6% growth in the economy gives him "enormous confidence and optimism that we are on the right track". Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Rishi Sunak has said he is "encouraged" that the economy has "real momentum", after the latest ONS figures show the UK economy is has grown by 0.6% between January and March. The prime minister added "we are heading in the right direction and people will start to feel that change". Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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