Surf is up. Hello and welcome to todays verified live. Downing street has described as unacceptable remarks alleged to have been made by one of the Conservative Partys biggest donors about the mp diane abbott. The guardian reports that during a Business Meeting in 2019, frank hester said diane abbott made him want to hate all black women and that she should be shot. Mr hester has admitted making comments about her which he described as rude. Mr hester has issued a statement saying that at the meeting in question, he said he abhorred racism. Diane abbott has also released a statement responding to his alleged comments. She said. Government ministers have faced questions from the media and they called his comments unacceptable but stopped short of calling them racist. Well, its clear that what he said was inappropriate. He has, as i understand it, apologised for those remarks. I think the Critical Point here is i dont think what he was saying was a gender based or a race based comment, b
At the emirates. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. Downing street has described as unacceptable remarks alleged to have been made by one of the conservative partys biggest donors about the mp, diane abbott, during a Business Meeting in 2019. The guardian claims that frank hester said ms abbott made him want to hate All Black Women and that she should be shot. This morning diane abbott has called the alleged comments frightening. Mr hester has admitted making comments about her which he described as rude, but his spokesperson has said this is not a confirmation of the quotes in the guardian. Henry zeffman has the story. Some people who give millions to Political Parties have high public profile is. Frank hester didnt. Until now. This is what the guardian says mr hester told staff at the Health Care Software company he built from scratch at a meeting back in 2019. Its like trying not to be racist, but you see diane abbott on the tv and you just want to hate All Black Wom
The Metropolitan Police in 2018. Thats despite an accusation he sexually assaulted a child barely in her teens while in his early 20s. Couzens, who was off duty, murdered Sarah Everard after kidnapping her under the false guise of an arrest. He was sacked by the met after his arrest and is now serving a whole life sentence. The inquiry s first stage has been considering what the met knew about couzens reported behaviour prior to sarahs murder. Heres what inquiry chair, Lady Elish Angiolini had to say. The fragility of public trust and confidence in policing affects us all, including those good Police Officers doing the right thing every day. It is time for all of those with responsibility for policing to do everything they can to improve standards of recruitment, vetting and investigation. Wayne couzens was never fit to be a Police Officer. Police leaders need to be sure there isnt another Wayne Couzens operating in plain sight. And lets just remind ourselves of what happened to Sarah