“Ms Abbott made me want to hate all black women and … she should be shot,” Frank Hester, CEO of The Phoenix Partnership (TPP) and major Conservative party donor, is alleged to have said at a TPP work meeting in 2019.
There were calls for the Tory party to return the £15 million donated in the last two years.
Hester’s apologised for being rude but not making racist comments. That says a lot. He said he’s reached out to Diane Abbott MP to apologise for his comments. We don’t as yet know if he’s spoken to her to make the apology or submitted a written apology (which in this day and age shouldn’t be too difficult to do if he hasn’t already).
Frank Hester
I suspect there’s an element of self-preservation around all this. He’s not a fool and knowing that Abbott’s reported his comments to the Police, he was careful about how he ‘acknowledged’ these comments which on the face of it are (a) racist and (b) an incitement to have an MP murdered.
What is clear is that prior to last month’s furore he wasn’t a well known public figure and therefore no one really knows for sure if he is racist as there is little public knowledge of him. That said, he’s reported to have made offensive sounding comments about Indian people too so it’s understandable people have jumped to conclusions.
At this point in time, a month on from the scandal breaking, we still don’t know if a personal apology to Miss Abbott has been made and if she’s accepted it.
Giving him back his £15 million donation or rescinding Hester’s OBE wouldn’t in reality amount to a hill of beans. Giving an alleged racist £15m hardly seems a punishment! Better of donating it to me (I wish) or other individuals or businesses that could benefit from it if the money is perceived to be “dirty money.” I don’t see it as that, for as far as we know it’s been legitimately earned. In fact in a roundabout way it’s public sector money, “our money” as his company has been said to have earned an enormous £400m in NHS contracts.
Removing the OBE – might hurt as a personal sleight, but with a £400m fortune I don’t think Hester would lose too much sleep over that.
Further, I don’t see either action meaning much more than a gesture. Would it end racism? Would it teach Hester a lesson? Would it seriously punish him? Would the Tory party gain from it? I don’t think so. Whilst I can see politically it’s been damaging and will potentially be used against them when it comes to May local elections and the forthcoming General Election (which actually could occur in January 2025 at the latest so let’s stop getting carried away re an imminent General Election!)
[As an aside, the current Angela Raynor woes is precisely why Sunak is in no rush to call an election now. It can only take a scandal out of nowhere to derail the Labour juggernaut and boost the Tories chance of holding onto power. In fact something like that could potentially trigger an election as an event the Tories could look to capitalise on. I don’t think the Raynor issue is that … even if worse case scenario for her she resigns].
Dianne Abbott MP
Back to Abbott-Hester. If anything I suspect many political parties including Labour and Lib-Dems will have their fair of “dodgy donors” whether racist or otherwise (we just don’t know it yet … but I’m sure someone could do some digging if they were so inclined to). Further, it’s potentially an opinion many share but daren’t voice in public or privately for fear of the backlash.
A far better line of attack would be to terminate his NHS contracts. Probably easier said than done but nonetheless there are certain guidelines and principles firms contracted to the NHS should adhere to and these include matters of equality and fairness. TPP have an ‘Equalities, Diversity & Inclusion Policy Statement’ that aims to: ‘Creating an environment in which individual differences and the contributions of all team members are recognised and valued.”
I wonder how their employees, especially any of their Black employees, feel about their CEO and continuing to work for TPP as their CEO’s reported comments (which he hasn’t publicly denied making) don’t seem in line with his company’s EDI Statement. You cannot have a CEO not abiding by his own company’s policies around conduct and equal opportunities.
A more pertinent line of enquiry would explore this. I’m more interested in the reaction and response of the staff and any others in that infamous Leeds meeting. Did they challenge the comments? Did they report them to their manager, HR or other Senior Directors? Was there an investigation and if so, what was the outcome? What is their view re him bringing TPP into disrepute by the actions of their Founder and CEO?
I know that’s a big ask for staff to challenge the CEO, but nonetheless there are or should be processes in place for challenging and disciplining even a CEO in such a major private company. Whistleblowing anyone?
If people are really unhappy and want to see justice served, they could write to the NHS Trust’s/GP’s etc… other firms TPP do business with and request they cancel contracts with them as a consequence of his actions. Why should TPP have access to half the nation’s patient records (held with GP practices)?
The Equalities and Business Minister Kemi Badenoch has come under some fire for saying the matter was “trivial and it was time to move on” [LBC Interview with Nick Ferrari 18/03/2024].
I tend to agree with her. In the grand scheme of things, some 5 year old comments by someone no-one’s heard of doesn’t amount to much. The so called intended “victim” of the comments presumably didn’t even get wind of them until March 2024. She’s still in the land of the living, so clearly no action on the shooting took place and I don’t believe for one minute Hester was actually serious about that comment.
It’s been a fascinating story and will play out in time but for two reasons it will in the fullness of time be seen as “trivial” by even those who see it as anything but, for the following reasons:
1 – The media and politicians in the main have already moved on from this – less than 12 days after the story blew up on 11/03/2024.
2 – There will likely be a failure to prosecute a line of attack that makes a difference (either by the Police – I don’t see this going anywhere as he’ll likely deny there was intent in the comments [that depends what witnesses interviewed say .. so it could actually result in a penalty. I think it could at the very worst result in a 3-6 year jail sentence, but I’d be shocked if that was the outcome]. There will likely be a failure to follow up by those aggrieved by this. Have they the bravery and stamina shown so boldly for instance recently by the Post masters challenging the Post Office and Government for compensation and will they tackle it in the most pro-active and effective way as I’ve suggested in this article?
Why he made the comment we don’t know. Had he had a bad issue with a Black woman or women, in the workplace, or out of the workplace? Had Abbott or other MP said something to offend him in 2019 or since?
Abbott mentioned feeling threatened as “single woman”. That’s understandable in the current climate with people thinking it’s OK to verbally or physically abuse or intimidate MP’s. It does rather raise the question of why she is single though and how that ties into this debate. Not much is known about her relationship status and to be fair outside of party leaders we don’t tend to know or see too much of spouses or partners of high profile MP’s. Nonetheless and this will probably land me in hot water, but one might wonder whether many Black men secretly concur with the Hester quote: “Ms Abbott made me want to hate all black women …” as demonstrated by their actions when it comes to relationships and who they choose to date as it’s pretty clear a great number of them have a preference for dating white women as opposed to those of their own ethnic and racial origin.
It’s undeniable that a high proportion of Black men do not date Black women in this country and there are a good number of Black women who remain single because of this (including Abbott herself) and their preference to date “one of their own”. Yes, I know this is a whole other topic but I think it’s a reasonable observation to make as Abbott brought her relationship status into this.
I hope Hester learns from this and is genuinely repentant of his comments and will revise his opinion of Black women. Nothing Abbott’s said publicly merits the approbium Hester and others have poured on her over the years. You don’t have to agree with Abbott or her politics – and she wouldn’t expect everyone to do so – but there’s no need for vile hatred of the woman or any politician for that matter. We need to dial down the verbal attacks in this febrile pre-election period.
I think a more practical, robust approach is required to address the issues highlighted by this case, but ultimately this is one for TPP to address, more than the Prime Minister and I don’t agree with around 80% of the focus of this story being on the PM’s and Tory parties response to this. Hester is the culprit not Rishi Sunak and his party and with him alone should the spotlight be on.
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