Police are to take the lead in investigations into some of the allegations about bets placed by politicians on the general election. Industry regulator the Gambling Commission will continue to lead inquiries into cases “where the alleged offending is limited to breaches of the Gambling Act only”, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson told the BBC.
But detectives would be in charge of “a small number of cases” where other offences might also be involved, such as misconduct in public office, the spokesperson added. On Tuesday, the Conservatives withdrew their support from two of their election candidates under investigation. Labour suspended one of its candidates who is also being investigated, after allegedly betting he would lose his constituency battle.
The BBC’s head-to-head TV debate kicked off with the two leaders being questioned about the claims.
Sir Keir Starmer accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of having to be “bullied” into taking action. Mr Sunak said he had handled the affair properly. The first audience question in the debate asked how the leaders would restore trust in politics, with people “dismayed by the lack of integrity and honesty”.
Sir Keir said that “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 action,” the Labour leader added.
Mr Sunak responded: “It was important to me that given the seriousness and the sensitivity of the matters at hand that they were dealt with properly, and that’s what I’ve done.” The prime minister repeated that he was “frustrated” and “furious” about what had happened. Earlier, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for a review of betting laws, following recent reports.
He said he had bet on the outcome of previous elections, but drew a distinction between what he described as “having a flutter” and having inside knowledge before placing bets.
Source: BBC
