Sunak could have shut down Hestergate at PMQs. Instead, he said he was pleased to have a racist’s support

Here’s how a vaguely competent prime minister on nodding terms with political communications and facing a storm over racist comments made by his biggest donor might have approached today’s prime minister’s questions.

He would – without briefing out his intentions in advance – say: “Mr Speaker, my honourable friend is entirely correct to say the comments made by Frank Hester were racist, disgusting and entirely unacceptable. And that is why we will today be giving every penny of his donations to this party to charities nationwide tackling the racial discrimination which sadly all too often scars our society.”

Story killed. Labour’s fox shot. Moral high ground recovered. And – and this bit would matter less to Rishi Sunak, but still – it would be the right thing to do (plus his wife could make up the shortfall personally from the back of the sofa).

Here is how Sunak, who is not a vaguely competent prime minister on nodding terms with political communications, approached it.

He was asked by Marsha de Cordova, a Labour MP: “The prime minister stood up outside Downing Street saying that he wanted to root out hate and extremism, yet it shamefully took him 24 hours to finally say the remarks by the Tories’ biggest donor that looking at the right honourable member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington makes you want to hate all black women were indeed racist. In November the prime minister accepted a non-cash donation to the tune of £15,000 from Frank Hester for the use of his helicopter. Will he reimburse him – yes or no?”.

Sunak responded: “No, Mr Speaker, and I’m pleased that the gentleman is supporting a party that represents one of the most diverse governments in this country’s history led by this country’s first British Asian prime minister.”

PLEASED! The prime minister was PLEASED that a man who joshed about hating black women and shooting a black female MP was supporting his party. It could only have been more toe-curlingly tone-deaf had he said it in response to another black female MP. Which, of course, Marsha de Cordova is. If he had been granted an open goal, he dealt with it like Geoff Thomas against France (niche reference, admittedly).

Earlier in the session Keir Starmer had also attempted to tackle the prime minister on Hester’s comments, with the predictable outcomes. Firstly, the pre-prepared line: “The alleged comments were wrong, they were racist, he has rightly apologised for them and that remorse should be respected.”

And secondly, the whataboutery. Yeah, our guy talked about hating all black women and shooting a black female MP. But what about Angela Rayner calling Conservatives scum? What about David Lammy comparing the European Research Group to Nazis? What about John McDonnell joking about lynching Esther McVey? The Tory benches behind him roared.

And so, rather than kill the story stone-dead, Sunak chose to play partisan politics with it. The accusations of which party’s supporters had made the most offensive comments were batted over the benches.

And what of Diane Abbott, the actual MP Hester had quipped about shooting? She made several attempts to stand and ask the prime minister a question, but wasn’t called by the Speaker. So she just had to sit and listen to herself be talked about.