The business secretary says, despite calling the Conservative donor's reported comments about Diane Abbott 'racist', the Tories should not give back the £10m he donated last year.
The government has 'drawn a line' under the Frank Hester race row and shouldn't have to give back the money he donated, Kemi Badenoch has said. The business secretary, who was the first cabinet minister to break ranks and label his reported comments about Diane Abbott as racist last week, suggested she would be comfortable accepting further money from the Tory donor.
Downing Street had also refused to call the remarks 'racist', insisting instead that they were 'unacceptable'. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak later condemned the remarks as 'racist and wrong', but he has continued to face calls to return the money Mr Hester has donated and confirm whether a further £5m is in the pipeline.
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