‘Law breakers have to be booted from Tory get together,’ says Sunak – who broke Covid legal guidelines

Rishi Sunak has vowed that lawbreakers will be kicked out of the Tory Party – despite having himself been fined for breaking Covid laws and not wearing a seatbelt.

The PM faces a backlash over his response to the betting scandal, which saw him belatedly suspend two candidates after days of dithering. Mr Sunak was challenged by an audience member named Sue who said the public are “dismayed” by the lack of integrity shown by politicians.

In response the uncomfortable Prime Minister claimed to be tough with lawbreakers – but was given a brutal reply by Keir Starmer. Mr Sunak told Sue during a BBC head-to-head debate in Notthingham: “I completely share your anger.

“I was as frustrated and furious when I learned about these allegations. That’s why, alongside the Gambling Commission, we initiated our own internal inquiries into what had happened and as a result of that, I suspended two candidates. And I have been crystal clear anyone who has broken the law, broken the rules should not only face the consequences of the law, I would ensure that they are booted out of the Conservative Party.”

But Labour leader Mr Starmer was scathing, pointing out: “We saw Partygate earlier in this Parliament. The Prime Minister himself was convicted and fined for breaking the rules, which he brought in and imposed on everybody else.

“And of course, we’ve seen what happened with the Covid contracts and the huge amounts of money that were made. This takes leadership.“

The Labour leader said: “You have to lead from the front on issues like this. I think that in the last 14 years politics has become too much about self entitlement, and MPs thinking about what they could get for themselves.” He added: “The instinct of these people to think the first thing they should do is try to make money, that was the wrong instinct, and we have to change that.”

Sir Keir continued: “What I did, when one of my team was alleged to have been involved and investigated by the Gambling Commission, they were suspended within minutes, because I knew it made it really important to be swift, the Prime Minister delayed and delayed and delayed until eventually he was bullied into taking off.”

Mr Sunak issued an “unreserved apology” after it emerged he had been given a fine by the Metropolitan Police over a lockdown-breaking gathering in Downing Street. And in January last year he was given a further fine after filming a social media video in a moving car without his seatbelt fastened.

Mr Sunak and Mr Starmer are locking horns in a BBC debate a week and a day before the UK goes to the polls. The crunch primetime showdown is the final head-to-head before the election.

It comes as a mega-poll suggested the Tories could end up with fewer MPs than the Lib Dems. The poll by Find Out Now and Electoral Calculus predicts that Keir Stamer is heading for a Labour landslide with an unprecedented majority of 250 seats. This would be an even bigger victory than Tony Blair’s historic win in 1997.

If the results are repeated next week on election day, Labour would pick up 450 seats. The Tories would be reduced to just 60 MPs, behind the Lib Dems on 71.

Ministers on course to be ousted include the PM, despite him having a whopping 24,331 votes majority in Richmond and Northallerton in North Yorks. Other potential Cabinet casualties are Deputy PM Oliver Dowden, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt and Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch.

It came as elections expert Professor Sir John Curtice warned that it was “too late” for Mr Sunak to turn things around. He said the PM has focused on the wrong things in the campaign, while also carrying the can for mistakes made by his predecessors.

Speaking at an event in London, he suggested the Tories could end up with anything between 50 and 150 MPs after July 4. Asked if there was anything Mr Sunak could do at this late stage to revive things, Sir John said: “To be honest on Sunak it’s too late. You’re not going to turn around a campaign like that at this stage.”