Reform UK campaigners had been recorded by an undercover Channel 4 reporter making racist comments, some which were directed at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The Conservative leader who is of Indian descent said in a televised statement the comments made him feel “hurt” and “angry.” Mr. Sunak said: "My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing 'P***. It hurts and it makes me angry and I think he has some questions to answer.”

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A seemingly emotional Sunak – speaking at an election campaign visit to a school in Teesside, added: “And I don't repeat those words lightly. I do so deliberately because this is too important not to call out clearly for what it is." He continued: "As prime minister, but more importantly as a father of two young girls, it's my duty to call out this corrosive and divisive behaviour." Mr. Sunak said he repeated the racial insult because it was important to challenge it.

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He went on: "I hate having to do it, I chose my words deliberately, I hate having to repeat them, absolutely hate it. But I also think it's important to call this out for what it is and be clear about what it is." However, Labour MP Diane Abbott has called out the Prime Minster for his apparent hypocrisy. Taking to X, Abbott wrote: “@rishisunak says he is hurt & angry a @reformparty_uk activist using racist language. How did he think I felt when his top donor Frank Hester said I “made him want to hate all Black women' and I should be shot?”

It was reported in March, that Conservative backer Frank Hester said in 2019 that Ms. Abbott - who in 1987 became the first black woman elected to Parliament - made him want to "hate all black women" and "should be shot". Earlier in June it emerged the Conservative Party had accepted another £5 million from Mr. Hester. He also donated £10million to the Tories last year, making him the party's biggest donor. The Conservative party accepted a further £150,000 from him through his healthcare software company, The Phoenix Partnership, on 8 March this year.

Mr. Hester admitted making "rude" comments about Ms. Abbott, but claimed they had "nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin". Rishi Sunak came under fire for his handling of the fallout from the remarks. He eventually condemned the remarks as "racist" but resisted calls to return the money, saying the tech boss's "remorse should be accepted."

The Prime Minister made it clear that he would not be handing back a penny of the money, saying the wealthy Tory donor had "honestly apologised" over the remarks he made about Diane Abbott. Mr. Sunak said in a phone in on radio station LBC: “I do think in life if you made a mistake and honestly apologised and learned from it, as a society if that is something we can come together on, is important."

In response to Frank Hester's latest donation, Ms Abbott tweeted: "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."