The return of donations to the Conservative Party by Frank Hester should be “looked at”, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has said.
Mr Hester is alleged to have said MP Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.
The Prime Minister has accepted these remarks were racist but the Tories have not handed back the £10 million he donated to the party.
Speaking to journalists following First Minister’s Questions, Mr Ross said the Scottish Conservatives had not received donations from Mr Hester.
The Moray MP said the alleged comments by Mr Hester about Ms Abbot were “racist, unacceptable and wrong”.
Mr Ross said: “There can be no dubiety around that.
“I think it was unacceptable and wrong, and the party at a UK level needs to look at that donation.”
Pressed on whether the Tories should return the money, he said: “I think this should be looked at.”
@andrewlearmonthish Douglas Ross stops short of saying Tories should return Frank Hester's £10m donation
♬ original sound - andrewlearmonth
Earlier in the day, Ms Abbott accused both the Tories and Labour of failing to tackle racism.
In a series of newspaper articles, she said the “reluctance to call out racism and sexism” was “shocking, but hardly surprising”, and warned the Tories would “play the race card… ruthlessly” at the next election.
Meanwhile, in the Commons, the Tory minister Penny Mordaunt said Labour should also commit to repaying funding from donors who have made controversial remarks.
She pointed to remarks by Labour donor Dale Vince, who shared an opinion on Times Radio last year that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” when asked about Hamas.
Though Mr Vince went on to say “I don’t support what they did”
Ms Mordaunt added: “If Labour are sincere in this matter and this is not a political stunt they will commit to repaying those funds.”
On Wednesday, Mr Vince said he had been targeted by “another right-wing smear” designed to “distract from the row” over Mr Hester.
He said: “It takes the form of a doctored video clip which gives a false impression of an interview I did last year.”
Mr Hester has admitted making “rude” comments about Ms Abbott but claimed they had “nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.
The SNP has called on the Tories to give donation to an anti-racism charity of Ms Abbott’s choice.
“This saga has been another deeply shameful episode for the Tories. It should result in real action - not just empty words and promises,” said Kirsten Oswald.
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