Pressure Mounts On Rishi Sunak As Tory Betting Scandal Deepens
Rishi Sunak is coming under mounting pressure to act over the betting scandal which has engulfed the Tories’ election campaign.
The prime minister has been urged to suspend two Conservative candidates accused of laying wagers on the date of the election shortly before it was announced last month.
One of them, Craig Williams, was Sunak’s parliamentary aide before parliament was dissolved.
He has admitted having a “flutter”, prompting a Gambling Commission investigation.
The other candidate is Laura Saunders, a member of Tory HQ staff whose husband, Tony Lee, is the party’s director of campaigns.
Both of them are also being investigated, and Lee has taken a “leave of absence” from his post.
In another extraordinary development in the controversy, one of the PM’s close protection officers has been suspended amid allegations that he also put a bet on a July poll.
Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator has written to Sunak demanding he take action.
He said: “Can I ask you very simply why you think that a serving police officer should be suspended from his role because of allegations that he made a bet based on inside information, while the two colleagues of yours who so far stand accused of the same offence ... are still being allowed to stand as Tory candidates in the election.
“Surely you can understand that – yet again – this looks as though there is one rule for members of the Tory party, and another rule for everyone else, specifically on this occasion a serving police officer. If you can see how wrong that is, will you now at the very least remove your support for Mr Williams and Ms Saunders as Conservative election candidates?”
The Conservatives have said they have been contacted by the Gambling Commission “about a small number of individuals”.
But in his letter to Sunak, McFadden demanded to know “how wide this scandal goes”.
He said: “If some of your most senior colleagues felt they had carte blanche to misuse the inside information they had on the election in order to make a profit, we must ask how many others had advance access to the same information, and placed bets either by themselves, or through their friends and family?
“If you take the correct action now concerning Mr Williams and Ms Saunders – to ensure consistency with the treatment of your close protection officer – will you guarantee that anyone else who it emerges placed bets on the timing of the general election, whether in their own name or through a third party, will also be suspended?”
Under the 2005 Gambling Act, the misuse of inside information when betting can lead to a prison sentence of up to two years.
“No one is above the law and it is essential that the taint of corruption now surrounding the behaviour of some who may have known about the election date is properly investigated and punished,” McFadden said.