PM: Tory donor’s alleged Diane Abbott comments are “racist”

Today, we look at the reaction to the alleged comments made by Tory donor Frank Hester as well as warnings from a watchdog that pet owners are overpaying for medicines. Adam and Chris discuss the reported remarks by Frank Hester, who has donated £10 million to the Conservative Party, after Rishi Sunak’s person described the donor’s comments as “racist”.

Mr Hester's company said he "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".

It said he had tried to apologise directly to her for the hurt he has caused, and is deeply sorry for his remarks.

Dale Vince, Labour Party donor and CEO of Ecotricity tells Adam what it’s like to be a donor of a political party. And the Competition and Markets Authority has warned that vet practices are not being transparent about the prices of pet medicines. Adam is joined by Claire Batty, a vet from Lancashire, and BBC reporter Jim Connolly. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhere Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Chris Flynn with Gemma Roper and Joe Wilkinson. The technical producer was Hannah Montgomery. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.