8 months ago
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Racist remarks said to have been made by Frank Hester, CEO of health software company TPP, inciting violence against the UK’s longest serving black MP Dianne Abbott have resulted in widespread condemnation.
A Guardian report on Monday, 11 March, reported Hester saying at a 2019 TPP company meeting:“It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Dianne Abbott on TV, and you just want to hate all black women because she’s there, and I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot.”
In a statement, TPP didn’t deny Hester making the remarks, but instead sought to portray them as “rude” and said the TPP CEO was “deeply sorry for his comments” and condemned racism.
Hester has made himself a high-profile national figure by becoming the single biggest donor to the Conservative party. Last May he donated £5m to the party and TPP has since made four separate donations totalling over £5m, taking total donations to over £10m.
By Monday evening the Conservative Party was being called upon to hand back the donations, now tainted by racism.
Anneliese Dodds, the chair of the Labour party, said: “These comments are reprehensible”.
“Frank Hester is the Conservative Party’s biggest ever donor, as well as a personal donor to the prime minister; it is therefore vital that Rishi Sunak and the Tories return his donations, in full without delay.”
Speaking in the Commons on Monday Labour Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting, said Hester had used “utterly revolting, racist and inciteful language. It has no place in our politics and public life” and called on the prime minister to apologise to Abbott and for the party to hand back donations “if it has any integrity at all”.
Meanwhile social media posters were aghast at the comments, the attitudes they revealed and called for action against Hester’s company.
Ros Fullerton posted “These comments from Frank Hester are abhorrent, incite violence and are openly racist.
“Many NHS teams rely on his company @TPP_SystmOne which holds detailed health records for millions of Britons.
“Should a fit and proper person test apply to major NHS suppliers?”
Dr Ayesha Rahim, clinical medical information officer at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, meanwhile posted on X: “I’m disgusted by this. Unacceptable views. I’m speechless.”
While some called for a boycott of TPP, Chris Fleming head of health at Public Digital questioned on X whether this was likely to happen: “What a surprise that one of the most odious individuals in healthcare was caught saying something despicable. The tragedy, he’ll still trouser his million every year thanks to the chronic failure in the primary care EPR market.”
Leading NHS consultant Rizwan Malik said bluntly on X: “Any trust or ICB that deploys TPP System! While he’s still at the helm should use their EDI Policy documents as loo paper as that’s about as much gravitas as they really give it.
“As an NHS supplier they must be held to account.”
TPP are listed as a sponsor of the Digital Health Rewired24 industry show running in Birmingham this week, organised by Digital Health, but will have no speakers and are not exhibiting.
