Abbott criticises speaker over PMQs and asks Starmer to restore the whip – as it happened

5.20pm GMT

Afternoon summary

• More than half of voters think the Conservative party should give up Frank Hester’s £10m donation because of his offensive remarks, new polling suggests.

• The Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, has sparked a fresh row by refusing to allow Diane Abbott ask a question during a heated session of prime minister’s questions, which was dominated by discussion of Hester’s comments about her. The SNP MP Philippa Whitford posted this in response to the speaker’s decision.

The refusal of @CommonsSpeaker to call you at #PMQs, has just compounded the appallingly racist and threatening comments of #Tory donor #Hester. https://t.co/ofsSZtGNJY

— Dr Philippa Whitford (@Dr_PhilippaW) March 13, 2024

The refusal of @CommonsSpeaker to call you at #PMQs, has just compounded the appallingly racist and threatening comments of #Tory donor

• Keir Starmer has attacked Rishi Sunak at PMQs for refusing to return the £10m given to the Tories by Hester. (See 12.06pm, 12.08pm and 1.28pm.)

• Ministers have introduced legislation to quash the convictions of hundreds of post office operators who were prosecuted during the Horizon scandal in a move described as “an exceptional response to a factually exceptional situation”.

• Andy McDonald has had the Labour whip reinstated after a “lengthy” investigation over comments he made at a pro-Palestine rally last year.

5.04pm GMT

Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden has joined calls for West Midlands mayor Andy Street to confirm whether he has benefited from donations made by Frank Hester to the Conservative party, after he said earlier today he would have personally returned the donations Hester has made to the party. (See 10.53am.) McFadden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, said:

Now that Mr Street had said the Tories should return the £10m donated by Frank Hester, the question is whether any of this money has made it to Mr Street’s own campaign.

Our understanding is that over £2m for Mr Street’s campaign came via Conservative central office. You can’t have a situation where the mayor says the money should be returned and at the same time it’s paying for leaflets and digital advertising in the West Midlands.

That means it is important that the sources of Mr Street’s campaign finance are clarified now in order to show that none of the money came from Mr Hester, even indirectly.