Election latest: Minister says he 'stands by' Rishi Sunak's Labour tax rise claim (2024)

There's more reaction coming in now to that latest donation from Frank Hester to the Conservatives.

In a statement, Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: "How low can Rishi Sunak's Conservatives go?"

She said spending the money would mean the party is "proudly funded by a man who made the most appalling racist and sexist comments".

"Ultimately the buck stops with Rishi Sunak. Sunak must personally intervene and make sure not a penny of this money is spent," said Ms Cooper.

“No amount of tainted funding will stop the threat the Liberal Democrats pose to the Conservatives in many seats across the country.

Labour says Rishi Sunak has "proven he is a man with no integrity" after accepting another £5m donation from Frank Hester.

Party chair Anneliese Dodds said the prime minister was "too weak to return the money donated by a man who has made violent, misogynist, and racist remarks which belong nowhere near our politics".

"If Rishi Sunak had a backbone he’d have cut ties with Frank Hester months ago, returned the money and apologised properly to Diane Abbott," she said in a statement.

"Voters have a chance to turn the page on 14 years of sleaze and scandal on 4 July and vote for change with Labour."

Diane Abbott says a decision by the Conservatives to accept another donation from businessman Frank Hester is an "insult" to her and "all black women".

As we reported in our 8.36 post, the latest Electoral Commission data shows Mr Hester - who previously said Ms Abbott made him want to "hate all black women" and "should be shot" - has donated a further £5m to the Tories.

In a post to X, Ms Abbott said:"Rishi Sunak belatedly admitted Frank Hester's remarks that 'I made him hate all black woman and should be shot' were racist.

"Now it turns out Sunak accepted a further £5 million from him.

"An insult to me and all black women."

John Healey has declined to say whether Labour will rule out raising taxes such as stamp duty and capital gains tax.

It comes after Jeremy Hunt challenged Sir Keir Starmer to explicitly say he will not hike property taxes if Labour win the election.

"There are dozens of specific taxes, the ones that are most important are those that cost working people the most," Mr Healey said.

Pressed on the issue, he repeated that Labour will not "raise taxes on working people" and said the party's plans "do not require us to start looking at raising taxes across the board".

He then repeatedly declined to answer questions on whether Labour will raise capital gains tax and stamp duty.

"I'm not going to go through a list, we could be spending the next hour doing this," he said.

"Where we have plans to change the taxes, we've spelt those out and we've said what that money that we can raise will be used to do," he added.

Shadow defence secretary John Healey says he is "disappointed" that blocked Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen has decided to stand as an independent.

Ms Shaheen, who initially won the Labour nomination for Chingford and Woodford Green, said she felt "disenfranchised" by the decision to remove her as a candidate, and accused the party of embodying a "hierarchy of racism".

Mr Healey said he understands why she is "disappointed" but added that she went through "the process that all of us as candidates for Labour have had to go through".

"I'm disappointed she's standing as an independent and one of the really big changes that Keir Starmer has brought in... is to make sure that any allegations are treated through an independent process.

"Any suggestion that there are partial treatments for some people is entirely wrong."

Back to our interview with John Healey now, who has been questioned by Sky's Kay Burley on whether he is trying to "catch out" the public by saying taxes will not be hiked for "working people".

The shadow defence secretary said those facing higher prices are "the people who are working hard and struggle to make ends meet".

Pressed further on the matter, and whether Labour will target unearned income surcharges such as dividends, Mr Healey said "none of our plans require us to raise extra taxes beyond the ones we've already said".

However he added that Labour would have to assess "the true state of the public finances is when we get to open the books".

The Conservatives have accepted another donation from Frank Hester, who made headlines earlier this when comments he made about Labour's Diane Abbott emerged.

The latest data from the Electoral Commission shows he has donated a further £5m to the Tories.

This is on top of the £10m Mr Hester donated last year.

Mr Hester said in 2019 that Ms Abbott made him want to "hate all black women and that she "should be shot".

The comments were reported on by The Guardian back in March.

A spokesperson for the entrepreneur released a statement at the time saying: "Frank Hester 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.

"The Guardian is right when it quotes Frank saying he abhors racism, not least because he experienced it as the child of Irish immigrants in the 1970s."

They added that Mr Hester rang Ms Abbott to "try to apologise directly for the hurt he has caused her, and is deeply sorry for his remarks".

"He wishes to make it clear that he regards racism as a poison which has no place in public life."

You can read more background to this story here:

We've also heard this morning from Labour's shadow defence secretary John Healey, who has declined to say whether the party will take action against Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives over claims about Labour's tax plans.

He echoed the view of Sir Keir Starmer that the claim of a £2,000 tax increase per family was "a lie", and said the prime minister is getting "more desperate" as the election campaign rolls on.

But asked if Labour will take any action after Sir Keir's claim that Mr Sunak broke the ministerial code, Mr Healey said: "That'll be for the statistics authority to pursue for now."

"But we're really clear that... the trust in British government is broken, it needs to be earned again," he adds, saying that Labour has been "so careful" to explain how it will fund its plans for the country.

"We have seen too much of gimmicks that make no difference to people's lives and broken promises," he says.

Mr Healey says Labour "will not be raising taxes on working people".

Sky News' deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard provide you with their guide to the election day ahead.

This is day 15 of the campaign. Jack and Sam discuss the Conservatives on tax and if they have their figures on Labour right, the latest on new likely manifesto pledges, and what next for Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething after losing yesterday's vote of no confidence.

Email Jack and Sam: jackandsam@sky.uk

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