Diane Abbott news latest: Sunak rejects calls to give back Frank Hester’s £10m donation amid racism row

Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure to call a snap general election after a poll showed nearly half of the public want a May contest.

The prime minister has refused to say when the next election will take place, only suggesting that it will be in the second half of 2024.

But a poll by More in Common, seen by The Independent, showed four in ten voters want an election to take place within weeks. Fewer than 30 per cent of voters want the prime minister to wait until November, when many expect the vote to take place.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the exclusive report:

Diane Abbott has accused Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle of failing to act in the “interests of the Commons or democracy” after she was not called to speak at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Major Tory donor Frank Hester is alleged to have said Ms Abbott, Britain’s longest-serving black MP, made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.

Independent MP Ms Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington) stood repeatedly in a bid to catch Sir Lindsay’s eye and be called to ask a question, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer using the session to press Rishi Sunak about Mr Hester’s comments.

Ms Abbott, writing on X/Twitter, said: “I don’t know whose interests the Speaker thinks he is serving. But it is not the interests of the Commons or democracy.”

A spokeswoman for the Speaker’s Office said there was “not enough time” to call all MPs, adding: “During Prime Minister’s Questions, the Speaker must select MPs from either side of the House on an alternating basis for fairness.

“This takes place within a limited timeframe, with the chair prioritising Members who are already listed on the Order Paper. This week – as is often the case – there was not enough time to call all Members who wanted to ask a question.”

Angela Rayner is piling pressure on Rishi Sunak to tackle “toxic Islamophobia“ in the Conservative Party after a series of damning revelations in recent weeks.

The Conservatives have been rocked by ex-deputy chairman Lee Anderson’s anti-Muslim rant about Sadiq Khan, as well as the chair of its own Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group (AMHWG) revealing that it has not met in more than four years.

The Labour deputy leader and shadow women and equalities secretary Anneliese Dodds have now written to ministers demanding to know what is being done to combat Islamophobia in the Tory ranks and why the AMHWG has been inactive for so long.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:

Activists have erected hundreds of cemetery “headstones” made from insulation boards outside parliament to warn a failure to tackle cold homes is costing thousands of lives, reports my colleague Oliver Browning.

Greenpeace estimates more than 70,000 excess winter deaths in the UK were linked to living in cold, damp housing conditions in the decade since the coalition government slashed support for home insulation measures.

In a protest at what it described as the “needless and shocking” deaths from living in cold homes, the green group installed headstones in Victoria Tower Gardens and an eight-metre-long funeral wreath reading “cold homes cost lives”.

The Conservative candidate to become mayor of London is facing calls to reveal if any funding for her campaign comes from the donor at the centre of a racism row.

Frank Hester is alleged to have said Labour MP Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”. Rishi Sunak is resisting calls to hand back the money, despite calling the remarks “racist”, saying Mr Hester had shown “remorse”.

Now Dawn Butler, the chair of Labour’s London MPs, has written to Susan Hall to ask if her campaign has received donations from Mr Hester and if she will pledge to return them. In a letter, Ms Butler also asks Ms Hall if she will “condemn Mr Hester’s alleged comments as racist.”

Our politics and Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has more details in this exclusive report:

Broadening the definition of extremism could have “a chilling effect on free speech”, MPs have been warned.

Conservative MP Miriam Cates said moving the definition away from acts of violence could lead to a criminalisation of “legitimate views”.

Communities secretary Michael Gove is expected to produce a new official definition of extremism later this week.

Another 150 tonnes of UK aid entered Gaza on Wednesday, as the government announced an additional £10m in funding to support the stricken territory.

Wednesday’s aid delivery included 840 family-sized tents, 3,000 shelter kits, 6,000 sleeping mats and more than 13,000 blankets, along with more than 3,000 “dignity kits” to help women and girls.

This week is also expected to see the arrival of a full field hospital in Gaza, funded by UK Aid, that will be staffed by local and international medics and can treat more than 100 patients a day.

Lord David Cameron said: “Too many people in Gaza are suffering. No-one should be without basic amenities like shelter and bedding, and everyone deserves the dignity that basic hygiene kits provide. Our largest aid delivery, combined with a new UK field hospital, will save lives.

“But an immediate pause in the fighting is the only way to get aid into Gaza in the quantities desperately needed. This will also allow for the safe release of hostages. We could then work towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting or loss of life.”

The UK has also pledged an extra £10 million in aid funding, bringing its total contribution to more than £100m this financial year.

Two former Conservative MPs have added their voices to calls for the party to hand back the £10m it received from Frank Hester.

Julian Knight, who now sits as an independent, tweeted: “The Conservative Party must return every penny of Mr Hester’s donation no ifs no buts.”

Lee Anderson, who defected to Reform UK on Monday after losing the Tory whip, told GB News that the public would want “consistency”.

He said: “I left the party, had the whip taken off me. I refused to apologise. I stood on a principle that I will not apologise and go back to the party – because we’ve seen inconsistencies again with this donor.

“Ten million quid is good for the party, fair enough, but you’ve got to be consistent, because if you’re not consistent, then people don’t trust you until you’ve been consistent.”

A national insurance cut from April has moved closer to becoming law after it cleared the House of Commons.

MPs voted 293 to 41 to support the bill at its third reading. An SNP amendment designed to block it – amid warnings that it would lead to spending cuts for public services – was defeated by 300 votes to 44.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt used his spring Budget last week to announce pre-election giveaways, including a 2p cut in national insurance for employees and the self-employed.

The bill, which will undergo further scrutiny in the Lords, seeks to implement the policy from 6 April.