Rishi Sunak ‘not conscious’ of different Tories beneath Gambling Commission probe
Rishi Sunak has said he is “not aware” of the Gambling Commission investigating any further Tory candidates over allegations of betting on the General Election.
But speaking to reporters in Edinburgh he said there were “limits” to what he could say as he faced questions about the unfolding scandal. He refused to say when he had first been made aware of a Gambling Commission probe.
Asked whether he was confident that Cabinet members who knew that the election was about to be called hadn’t taken advantage, the PM said: “Well I what I can tell you is that the Gambling Commission don’t talk about the individuals that they are investigating. That’s my their standard practice… What I’d tell you is that I am not aware of any other candidate that they are looking at.”
He faces calls to suspend two candidates – Craig Williams and Laura Saunders, who are accused of placing bets on the date of the election. Quizzed on why he hadn’t done so, he said: “The Gambling Commission is independent of government. It’s independent of me. I don’t have the details of their investigation.
“They don’t report to me. I don’t have the details. But what I can tell you is, you know, in parallel, we’ve been conducting our own internal inquiries. And of course, will act on any relevant findings or information from that and pass it on to the Gambling Commission.”
He stalled on whether MPs should be allowed to bet on politics, but confirmed he himself hadn’t done so since being elected. He also refused to say when he became aware of allegations, stating: “Because these are serious and indeed it’s a law enforcement investigation, we have to be mindful of not compromising the integrity of that. I know that there will be lots of questions you have. I hope you can understand that, because there are criminal inquiries ongoing there’s a limit to what I can say.”
Keir Starmer has resisted calls to ban politicians from betting, saying the problem is “with the politicians” not the rules. Speaking to journalists at a school in Kettering, Mr Starmer rejected “nonsense” Tory claims that Labour had put undue pressure on the Gambling Commission by demanding answers on the betting scandal.
“What we need is leadership from the Prime Minister, he should have suspended these candidates,” he said. “I want to ensure that if we win the election, we return politics to service. I think we’ve had too much self entitlement.
“Nothing is better evidence of that than politicians whose first instinct when they know about the general election is not what can we do for the country but how can I make some money?” But the Labour leader resisted calls to ban politicians from betting on politics. Former Tory minister Tobias Ellwood called for a change in betting rules for politicians.
Mr Starmer said: “What I would do is ban them from breaking the rules… it seems obvious to me that those with knowledge have gone off to make some money.” He said the rules “aren’t the problem”, adding “there’s a problem with the politicians.” He said if the accused were Labour candidates then “they’d be gone by now”.
