Borisjohnson, largely absent up behind him, with the manager, iea boris johnson, largely absent from the table. Clearly not very happy and there is no love lost between the former leader, former Prime Minister and the outgoing First Minister. There was also another tricky exchange when Mark Drakeford discussed simon hart, the Welsh Secretary for the uk government throughout the pandemic. He was giving evidence on friday when she said she felt as though the Welsh Government was making decisions during the pandemicjust for the during the pandemic just for the sake during the pandemicjust for the sake of it, to be different to the uk government. Mark drakeford completely refuted that and noted simon hart did not give any evidence to back up that theory. Also Mark Drakeford said that simon hart got to the stage where he did not have much to do with the start of the pandemic, otherthan much to do with the start of the pandemic, other than essentially borrowing bothering Mark Drakeford about
Good morning. It is going to be fairly cloudy and wet today across the central swathes of the uk. To the central swathes of the uk. To the south of that mostly dry and mild. In the north, blustery showers with gales in north west scotland. Details later. Good morning. Its wednesday, 13th march. Rishi sunak is facing calls to hand back millions of pounds donated to the Conservative Party by a businessman accused of making racist comments about the mp, diane abbott. Tech boss frank hester is reported to have said ms abbott made him want to hate all black women, and that she should be shot. The Prime Minister called the comments racist and wrong. Our Political Correspondent Hannah Miller has more. Hello, rishi. How are you . Very nice to see you. When rishi sunak made this visit to a mill near leeds in november, his Helicopter Ride had been provided by one of his partys biggest donors, frank hester, Who Last Year donated £10 million to the Conservative Party, now alleged to have made com
Technology boss frank hester who donated £10 million to the Party Last Year is said to have made the comments in 2019. Our Political Correspondent Hannah Miller has more. Hello, rishi. How are you . Very nice to see you. When rishi sunak made this visit to a mill near leeds in november, his Helicopter Ride had been provided by one of his partys biggest donors, frank hester, Who Last Year donated £10 million to the Conservative Party, now alleged to have made comments that the Prime Ministers spokesperson has described as Racist And Wrong. Its like trying not to be racist. But you see diane abbott on the tv, frank hester is reported to have said in 2019, and you just want to hate all black women because shes there, and i dont hate all black women at all, but i think she should be shot. Mr hester has apologised and said that he abhors racism. In a statement he said that he accepts that he made comments that were rude about diane abbott, but said his criticism had nothing to do with her
After years of keeping a low profile Paula Venables was thrust into the spotlight this week and making her way through a scrum of cameras may have been the easy part. She started with an apology. I would just like to say, and im gratefulfor the opportunity to do this in person, how sorry i am for all that subpostmasters and theirfamilies and others have suffered as a result of all of the matters that the inquiry has been looking into for so long. There were tears as she was asked about the death of a subpostmaster who took his own life after being financially ruined by the post office. And i mentioned that. Im sorry. I imagine that i was probably. Just pause. Try and compose yourself if you can, and then continue your evidence, please. She defended her role. She may have been the boss, she said, but she wasnt responsible for everything. And she wasnt told everything either. You are not responsible for everything that happens underneath you. You have to rely on the advice of internal an
Years in parliament. But he says hes now concluded, there comes a moment when you know its time to leave, that a new generation should lead. Rishi has the plan our country needs, he added, i will do everything i can to support him. But as rishi sunak toured the Titanic Quarter in belfast, the list of mps jumping ship continued to grow. Among more than 100 other mp5 Standing Down, the former Prime Minister theresa may, the former leader of the house of commons, andrea leadsom, and former defence secretary ben wallace. While the conservatives are now seeing more mp5 walk away than in 1997, labours losses are less substantial. Keir starmer took his campaign to glasgow, hoping scotland will pave his way to a win. After mps lined up to mark the close of Parliament Last night, the campaign is well and truly under way, with both potential Prime Ministers constructing their arguments to the country as they try to build up support to win. Hannah miller, bbc news. Joining me now is lizzy buchan,