THE Metropolitan Police has said it is liaising with West Yorkshire Police over alleged comments made by businessman Frank Hester.

Mr Hester, chief executive of Horsforth-based The Phoenix Partnership, is alleged to have said Diane Abbott, Britain's longest-serving black MP, made him "want to hate all black women" and that she "should be shot".

Mr Hester has admitted making "rude" comments, which were first reported by The Guardian, but said they had "nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin".

Ms Abbott herself said the reported comments were "frightening" and "alarming" given that two MPs - Jo Cox, who represented Batley and Spen, and Sir David Amess - have been murdered in recent years.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "On Monday, officers from the Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team were contacted in relation to a report about an MP that appeared in the Guardian.

"We are assessing the matter and are liaising with West Yorkshire Police as the alleged incident is believed to have taken place in Leeds.

"Officers from the Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team remain in contact with the MP."

The Telegraph & Argus asked West Yorkshire Police for a comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Mr Hester gave the Conservatives £10 million last year.

Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake said today that returning the cash was not the "right thing to do" and suggested the Tories would accept further donations from the businessman.

"I don't believe Mr Hester is a racist person," Mr Hollinrake said.

"What he has said here, in a private conversation half a decade ago, he has apologised for.

"I don't think we need to spend too much time on that given he has made that apology."

But in a sign of Tory divisions over the issue, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch called out Mr Hester's alleged words. 

She said on social media site X: "Hester's 2019 comments, as reported, were racist. I welcome his apology.

"Abbott and I disagree on a lot. But the idea of linking criticism of her, to being a black woman is appalling.

"It's never acceptable to conflate someone's views with the colour of their skin."

In a statement, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "The comments allegedly made by Frank Hester were racist and wrong.

"He has now rightly apologised for the offence caused and, where remorse is shown, it should be accepted.

"The Prime Minister is clear there is no place for racism in public life and, as the first British-Asian Prime Minister leading one of the most ethnically diverse Cabinets in our history, the UK is living proof of that fact."

Alleged remarks 'intolerable and unacceptable'

Naz Shah, Labour MP for Bradford West, said: "The claim that Frank Hester's comments are divorced from gender or racial bias starkly contrasts with the remarks made by the Tory donor, who suggests a broader animosity toward black women.

"The notion that we should simply 'move on', as Hester states, from such remarks is not only intolerable but also unacceptable.

"Racism cannot be dismissed or ignored; it must be addressed and confronted directly.

"The Government should know better."

The T&A asked Shipley MP Philip Davies for a comment and he declined to address the issue directly.

The Bradford district's other three MPs, Robbie Moore, Imran Hussain and Judith Cummins, have also been invited to comment but are yet to respond. 

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin described the reported comments as "dangerous and disgusting" and added: "They have no place in a professional environment nor our politics.

"In West Yorkshire diversity is our strength and we are better than this."

In a statement released via his firm, Mr Hester said he had phoned Ms Abbott to "apologise directly for the hurt he has caused her".

The statement said: "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.

"He rang Diane Abbott twice today 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."