Distracted as they are from governing, the Conservatives have got themselves into yet another unholy mess over their now “controversial” donor Frank Hester. A story that should have been over in the space of a news cycle has now dragged on for days thanks to a strange combination of bad media management and an unwillingness to bend to reality.
All that said, we are now very much in the silly season part of this row. The Tories are being asked to hand back the cash – and slammed for not doing so.
Now, Hester’s racist comments do him little credit, but it is absurd to suggest that each and every donor to a political party, big or small, can never have done something which may look rather off when it’s popped on the front of The Guardian. It would be the equivalent of a shop doing a full social media check of their customers before they were allowed to purchase something. No, this would be cancel culture going too far.
The Tories could have condemned the comments and said they wouldn’t be taking any more unless Mrs Hester apologised; instead, they’ve lost another two or three days when they could have been taking aim at the opposition.
It is increasingly difficult to see what this Conservative government is for, and how it is trying to win this next election. A growing economy that isn’t growing particularly quickly? Culture wars in which large parts of the country would happily be conscientious objectors?
It is time for some vision from Sunak and Hunt – not loose promises of tax cuts to come. If they can’t explain where they want the country to be in five years, you can hardly blame the country for struggling to work it out. Adding incompetent handling of marginal media storms only adds to the confusion.