Baroness Warsi: Conservatives seen as 'xenophobic and racist'

Baroness Warsi has joined calls urging Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to hand the money back

The Conservative Party's first Muslim chairperson has said it is now known as "the institutionally xenophobic and racist party", not "the nasty party".

Tory peer Baroness Warsi made the claim after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refused to hand back funds from party donor Frank Hester despite his alleged racist comments about MP Diane Abbott.

Mr Hester is reported to have donated £15m to the Tories over the last year.

A party spokesperson said there was "no evidence of institutional racism".

Speaking on Politics North, Baroness Warsi, who chaired the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2012, joined calls urging the prime minister to hand the money back.

"We should not be a party that takes money from people who have the kind of views that [Mr Hester] is alleged to have had," she added.

'Very dangerous'

At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Mr Sunak said Mr Hester's alleged comments were "wrong" and "racist".

But he repeatedly told MPs Mr Hester had apologised and his "remorse should be accepted".

Baroness Warsi, who is from Dewsbury, said: "It's a very dangerous time when in politics effectively you can have these distasteful and racist views but money can buy you redemption.

"As my colleague Theresa May once said, we were known as the nasty party. Unfortunately, we are now being known as the institutionally xenophobic and racist party."

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In response to Baroness Warsi's comments, a Tory spokesperson told the BBC: "An investigation and subsequent independent review, both conducted over several years by Professor Swaran Singh, found no evidence of institutional racism in the Conservative Party."

The row over returning Mr Hester's money was sparked by an article in Monday's Guardian.

The newspaper reported that in 2019 the businessman 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".

Last month former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson was suspended as a Conservative MP after refusing to apologise for claims Islamists had "control" of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Mr Khan described Mr Anderson's comments as "Islamophobic, anti-Muslim and racist".

Three days after Mr Anderson's comments were made, Mr Sunak said they were "wrong" and not acceptable - but avoided calling them Islamophobic.

Baroness Warsi, a lawyer who was made a life peer in 2007, said the PM's judgment on both issues "appears to be delayed and appears to be wrong".

You can see more on this story on Politics North on Sunday 17 March from 10:00 GMT on BBC One in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire or via BBC iPlayer afterwards.