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Rishi Sunak has been rocked by an election betting scandal after a Conservative candidate and her husband are investigated over a bet relating to the timing of the general election.
Tory candidate for Bristol North West Laura Saunders and the party’s director of campaigning Tony Lee are currently being looked into by the Gambling Commission.
The prime minister is now facing urgent calls to suspend the probed party members after Sir Keir Starmer attacked Mr Sunak for failing to do so.
Other parties like Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper labelled the situation an “utter disgrace” and Labour’s campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden urged the PM to withdraw support from candidates immediately.
The Tory couple are the latest figures to face gambling allegations after Craig Williams apologised over betting on the date of the general election.
It comes as a police officer in Mr Sunak’s close protection team was arrested and suspended over alleged bets about the timing of the general election.
Greens: Tories have shifted towards ‘right-wing extremism’
Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie has accused the Conservative party of moving closer towards “right-wing extremism”.
At the launch of his party’s manifesto in Edinburgh, Mr Harvie claimed a lurch to the “far right” is “inevitable” after polling day.
Mr Harvie said: “In the UK, it seems that a realignment along the far-right looks like an inevitable consequence of this election.
“Alongside the growth of online radicalism and far-right conspiracy platforms masquerading as news outlets, this is a chilling threat to democracy.
“Even if it ends up wiping them out, the truth is that the Conservative Party itself has helped to create this.
“Since Brexit, they’ve shifted ever further toward right-wing extremism and their culture war against vulnerable groups has been one of the ugliest expressions of Tory politics in recent years.”
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 14:56
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 14:40
Former Green party leader slams Tories over ‘sickening’ migrants’ attack ad
Former Green party leader Caroline Lucas has crticised the Conservatives over an ad attacking Labour over small boat crossings.
Ms Lucas said that the ad was “disgusting” adding: “Imagine the mindset that made this. People are dying. Afraid. Exploited and desperate.
“The Tories now chasing Reform to the very hard right and it’s sickening. Just when you think they couldn’t sink any lower.”
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 14:36
Voters favour Farage to be leader of the opposition and Reform to replace the Tories
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 14:30
Reeves: Labour’s planning reforms came from ‘smoked salmon and scrambled egg breakfast’
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said Labour’s planning reforms came from a “smoked salmon and scrambled egg breakfast” as she told business chiefs she hoped their “fingerprints” could be seen all over the party’s manifesto.
She told The Times CEO Summit: “My mission is to make Britain the best place in the world to invest or to start and grow a business, and that’s why I hope when you read our manifesto, or see our priorities, that you see your fingerprints all over them.
“So, the reforms about planning, that’s not something that we came up with in our office, that’s something that was probably first mentioned to me at the first smoked salmon and scrambled eggs breakfast that I had three-and-a-bit years ago where that was raised as an issue, and then raised countless times.”
She added: “I’m not going to be able to create wealth and prosperity from the Treasury, but you are going to be able to create that. What is my role is to remove as many of the barriers that are stopping you from investing as I possibly can.”
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 14:20
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 14:10
Starmer denies Labour official claimed party should “flatten the whole green belt”.
Sir Keir Starmer has denied a Labour Party official said a future government should “flatten the whole green belt”.
Politico’s London Playbook quoted an unnamed party official on Thursday, who said: “I don’t care if we flatten the whole green belt, we just need more houses in this country.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak posted the quote to his feed on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption: “Good to finally get Labour’s real views on Britain’s green belt.”
At a housing development in North Yorkshire, the Labour leader told journalists: “No, that wasn’t Labour Party officials. That wasn’t Labour Party policy.
“What we will do is we will build the one and a half million houses that we need over the next five years on projects like this, with the facilities they need, because what you need here is the schools and the GPs and the facilities that are needed for housing.
“We will get on and do the building we need to do, but we’d of course protect the countryside, as you’d expect.”
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 14:00
The Tories are fighting to avoid ‘unaccountable Labour majority’
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 13:50
Sir Ed Davey slams Tory betting scandal ‘immoral and illegal’
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey was asked about the betting allegations as he campaigned in Sheffield, describing what appears to have been happening as “corruption”.
He said: “It think it’s quite awful.
“The idea that you bet on something when you know the result, that is immoral, it is illegal, and I can’t believe people at the top of the Conservative Party are doing this and have allowed this to happen.
“This is corruption, frankly, and it needs to have a heavy hand from the top.”
Sir Ed said: “We think there should be a Cabinet Office inquiry. I think the Gambling Commission will rightly look at this.
“I hope they come down heavy on those people who look like – I haven’t seen the details but they look like – they’ve acted illegally and immorally.”
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 13:40
Gove ‘lost for words’ over betting scandal
Michael Gove has said he is “almost lost for words’ after three Tory members were accused of placing a bet on when the election would be held.
Although he said the party will have to wait for the investigations to conclude, he said: “You shouldn’t be using inside information to try to make a few hundred quid on the side. That is just not acceptable.”
It’s “terrible”, he said and he was “disappointed” as the “future of this election really matters to me and my children”.
Salma Ouaguira20 June 2024 13:30
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