Rishi Sunak defends not taking immediate action against Tories accused of suspect bets, saying inquiries must take their course. When asked about his closest aid, bodyguard, campaign manager, and data chief being investigated for insider trading, Sunak expresses anger and mentions that the Gambling Commission is investigating. He emphasizes that the Tories are conducting their own inquiry and assures that if anyone has broken the rules, they will face consequences and be removed from the Conservative party. Sunak stresses the seriousness of the matter and the importance of maintaining the integrity of the investigations, stating that those found guilty will be held accountable.
Sunak defends decision not to take immediate action against Tories accused in betting scandal – UK election live | General election 2024
Sunak defends not taking immediate action against Tories accused of suspect bets, saying inquiries must take their course
Rishi Sunak is going first.
Q: When you resigned as chancellor, you said government should be conducted competently. How has it turned out?
Sunak says his first task was to bring down inflation. He has done that.
Q: Your closest aid, your bodyguard, your campaign manager and your data chief are all being investigated for insider trading. Is that proper?
Sunak says he was incredibly angry.
The Gambling Commission is investigating.
But the Tories are doing their own inquiry, he says. He says he won’t hestitate to act on that.
Q: But that should not take long. You just ask everyone.
Sunak seems to imply Cole is not taking it seriously. These are very serious matter.
There are mutiple investigations. He cannot compromise the integrity of them, he says.
He goes on:
If anyone has broken the rules, they should face not just the full consequences of the law, but they will be booted out of the Conservative party.
Cole says it looks like Tories were “stealing the candlesticks” on the way out of government.
Sunak repeats the point about being incredibly angry. And if anyone has broken the rules, they will be kicked out.
Q: Whoever they are?
Whoever they are, Sunak confirms.
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Updated at 17.41 BST
Key events
Q: Why did you not act to bring down legal immigration earlier?
Sunak says he has only been PM for 18 months. Legal immigration is coming down, and net migration will be halved within 12 months, he says.
Q: But why didn’t you do it 18 months ago?
Sunak says he has acted.
Q: But the numbers were soaring last year.
Sunak challenges Cole to name another year when the numbers fell by 30%.
The numbers were too high. He got the job, and the numbers came down.
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Sunak refuses to deny threat of legal cases blocking July Rwanda flights part of reason for surprise summer election
Cole says he has been told that, just before Sunak called the July election, he was told legal action was likely to block the Rwanda flights planned for July. Was that one reason why he called the surprise election?
Sunak says, every time someone tried to bock the Rwanda plan, he kept going. He says he has a plan, and Labour does not.
That was not an answer to Cole’s question.
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Sunak defends not taking immediate action against Tories accused of suspect bets, saying inquiries must take their course
Rishi Sunak is going first.
Q: When you resigned as chancellor, you said government should be conducted competently. How has it turned out?
Sunak says his first task was to bring down inflation. He has done that.
Q: Your closest aid, your bodyguard, your campaign manager and your data chief are all being investigated for insider trading. Is that proper?
Sunak says he was incredibly angry.
The Gambling Commission is investigating.
But the Tories are doing their own inquiry, he says. He says he won’t hestitate to act on that.
Q: But that should not take long. You just ask everyone.
Sunak seems to imply Cole is not taking it seriously. These are very serious matter.
There are mutiple investigations. He cannot compromise the integrity of them, he says.
He goes on:
If anyone has broken the rules, they should face not just the full consequences of the law, but they will be booted out of the Conservative party.
Cole says it looks like Tories were “stealing the candlesticks” on the way out of government.
Sunak repeats the point about being incredibly angry. And if anyone has broken the rules, they will be kicked out.
Q: Whoever they are?
Whoever they are, Sunak confirms.
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Updated at 17.41 BST
The Sun’s “election showdown” is starting.
Harry Cole, the Sun’s political editor, says the UK faces huge challenges, and nothing seems to work.
It is not exactly the BBC …
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Another polling company has come out with an MRP poll suggesting Labour are on course for a humongous majority. It is from Focaldata, and it has Keir Starmer set for a majority of 250.
💥 EXCLUSIVE: Our first MRP poll of the campaign suggests Labour are on course for a 250-seat majority.
Probabilistic seat counts:
Labour: 450
Conservative: 110
Liberal Democrats: 50
SNP: 16
Plaid Cymru: 2
Reform UK: 1
Green: 1
More details: https://t.co/zPEkXERssr pic.twitter.com/Z0VQEekEWM
— Focaldata (@focaldataHQ) June 24, 2024
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Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru leader at Westminster and the party’s candidate in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis of the main parties’ manifestos (see 11.37am) confirms what her party has been saying. She said:
The IFS confirms what Plaid Cymru has been saying all along – both Labour and the Conservatives’ manifestos clearly shows that a vote for either party is a vote for more of the same: austerity. Neither party are being honest with voters about the dire state of the economy, and the spending gap in both manifestos will mean that Wales’ could lose out on a billion or more.
Plaid Cymru knows this isn’t as good as it gets for Wales. This election, we’re offering real change for Wales. We are the only party calling for fair funding for Wales to create economic and social fairness and build a fairer, more ambitious nation.
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Sunak and Starmer take part in Q&A with Sun readers
The Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer Q&A with Sun readers is due to start at 5.30pm. There is a live feed here. Harry Cole, the paper’s political editor, is chairing. Starmer is due to go first.
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Tories in election retreat as resources diverted to defend ministers’ seats
The Conservatives are rerouting resources to defend at least three seats held by cabinet ministers with majorities of more than 20,000 as the party retreats to safer ground, Eleni Courea reports.
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This post on X from JK Rowling is probably a good indication as to how she would respond to what Rachel Reeves has been saying today. (See 3.36pm.)
Rowling is recommending a thread by the Observer columnist Sonia Sodha starting here.
Thread on why Labour’s existing position on gender and sex (“the Equality Act is clear on protections for single-sex spaces” – it isn’t – and “we’re going to make it easier for men to qualify for protections normally reserved for women”) waters down those protections for women.
— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) June 24, 2024
Thread on why Labour’s existing position on gender and sex (“the Equality Act is clear on protections for single-sex spaces” – it isn’t – and “we’re going to make it easier for men to qualify for protections normally reserved for women”) waters down those protections for women.
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According to Sam Blewett at Politico, Green party campaigners in Bristol Central, where the party’s co-leader Carla Denyer is very hopeful of defeating Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire have been telling voters they meet who admire Debbonaire that, if she loses, Keir Starmer will put her in the House of Lords anyway. Blewett says Debbonaire is furious about the claim, and that she says “of course” that idea has not been discussed.
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Tories are a ‘shower of shit’, says Conservative candidate James Cracknell
James Cracknell, who is standing to be a Conservative MP, has called the Tories a “shower of shit”, in a video he posted on Facebook, Simon Hattenstone and Jessica Elgot report.
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Reeves says Labour willing to meet JK Rowling to discuss her concerns about its policy on trans rights
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has said Labour would be willing meet JK Rowling to discuss her concerns about the party’s policy on gender recognition certificates. (See 9.54am.)
Speaking while campaigning in Scotland, Reeves said:
We’re not going to be changing anything around biological sex. So the Equality Act stands and the protection of single sex spaces, based on biological sex will absolutely stay. Labour introduced the Equality Act it is very important to us and that protection for single sex spaces.
Asked about Rowling, who said in a Times article on Saturday that she would find it hard to vote for Labour while the party was “dismissive and often offensive towards women fighting to retain the rights their foremothers thought were won for all time”, Reeves said:
We’re really happy to talk to JK Rowling to give her assurances about [same-sex spaces].
For me those protections whether it is about prisons, refuges, changing spaces, that is really important to me, it is really important to the Labour Party that those single sex spaces based on biological sex are protected.
And nothing in our plans goes contrary to that, nothing at all.
Rachel Reeves. Photograph: Sam Frost/The GuardianShare
The Green party has pledged to end “dental deserts” in the UK and restore full access to NHS dentistry, PA Media reports. PA says:
Green party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said it was a “national outrage” that children were being admitted to hospital for tooth decay, as thousands struggle to access dental care.
There have also been reports of people removing their own teeth at home, due to the difficulty in seeing a dentist on the NHS.
The party has said their MPs will push for a new contract for NHS dentists backed by an additional £3bn for the dentistry budget by 2030.
Ramsay said: “In many parts of the country it is now impossible to register with an NHS dentist, and many dentists are de-registering NHS patients to avoid treating them at a loss. Too many of us are feeling the consequences: dropping from regular preventative dental visits to only going when we have a problem that needs treatment.”
Adrian Ramsay. Photograph: Joshua Bright/Joshua Bright for The GuardianShare
Badenoch says time to talk about Tory ‘leadership things’ will be after election, hinting she’s planning new campaign
Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, has declined to rule out standing for Conservative party leader after the election.
According to the bookmakers, Badenoch has been favourite to be the next Tory leader for a while, and last week the Daily Telegraph said she could walk into the job almost without a contest – because one poll suggested she could be the only senior figure in the party left in parliament after a catastrophic defeat.
In a Bloomberg debate today with her Labour opposite number Jonathan Reynolds, Badenoch played down the idea of standing for leader, but did not rule it out.
She claimed there was “no better job” than being business secretary, saying it was “a lot easier and a lot less pressured than being prime minister”.
She went on:
The fact of the matter is, I stood and I lost. And what terrifies me now is not becoming leader, it is seeing Labour come in …
This is one of the things that I’ve found most difficult doing this job, that people tend not to know what it is, because I’m always asked the leadership question. We’re so interested in the personalities, in the gossip and so on …
We need to focus on this election. The choice is going to be between us or between them. Be afraid if it is them, is all I would say. And we will talk about leadership things after an election, but not before.
Kemi Badenoch at Tory manifesto launch two weeks ago. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty ImagesShare
The Institute for Government thinktank has said the next government should pass a short bill containing measures to improve integrity in public life. It has written an open letter saying so also signed by various other thinktanks and campaign groups, as well as by a long list of distinguished former civil servants, experts and parliamentarians. It’s an A-grade establishment cast list, and so naturally the letter is in today’s Times.
Here is an extract.
Essential progress can be quickly achieved by providing for independent enforcement of a new ministerial code; establishing new systems for managing conflicts of interest and lobbying; improving regulation of post-government employment; ensuring appointments to the Lords are only made on merit and other public appointments are rigorous and transparent; and strengthening the independence of the honours system, including by ending prime ministerial patronage.
Legislation is not necessary for most of these changes, but a short bill would create the necessary powers and embed the independence of the ethics and integrity system. This election is a rare opportunity to reverse the spiral of declining trust in government – and it is an opportunity that would be dangerous to miss.
Many of these measures are also being proposed by Labour.
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Starmer says Tory inquiry into betting allegations designed to ‘knock this in long grass’ until after election
Keir Starmer has dismissed the news that the Conservative party is conducting its own inquiry into the election date betting allegations. (See 12.35pm.) Speaking at a Labour rally at Northampton Town football club, Starmer said was a “total failure of leadership”. He explained:
[Rishi Sunak has] announced an investigation, an investigation designed for one purpose, which is to knock this in the long grass to the other side of the election.
The Tories should have carried out an inquiry already, he said:
It would take half an hour. Who knew? Did you place a bet? That’s it.
The desperation over this betting story that’s going around – it goes to the heart of what the Tories have become when their first instinct in relation to a general election is not how to serve the country, how do I get the message out, it’s how quickly can I get to the bookies and make some money.
Keir Starmer speaking during a visit to Northampton Town football club at Sixfields Stadium in Northampton. Photograph: Jacob King/PAShare
Read the full story on www.theguardian.com
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/jun/24/general-election-tobias-ellwood-election-date-betting-rishi-sunak-conservatives-labour-keir-starmer-uk-politics-latest-updates