Election – latest: Sunak rocked by gambling scandal as Tory chief steps back

Sir Keir Starmer has denied a Labour Party official said a future government should “flatten the whole green belt”.

Politico’s London Playbook quoted an unnamed party official on Thursday, who said: “I don’t care if we flatten the whole green belt, we just need more houses in this country.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak posted the quote to his feed on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption: “Good to finally get Labour’s real views on Britain’s green belt.”

At a housing development in North Yorkshire, the Labour leader told journalists: “No, that wasn’t Labour Party officials. That wasn’t Labour Party policy.

“What we will do is we will build the one and a half million houses that we need over the next five years on projects like this, with the facilities they need, because what you need here is the schools and the GPs and the facilities that are needed for housing.

“We will get on and do the building we need to do, but we’d of course protect the countryside, as you’d expect.”

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey was asked about the betting allegations as he campaigned in Sheffield, describing what appears to have been happening as “corruption”.

He said: “It think it’s quite awful.

“The idea that you bet on something when you know the result, that is immoral, it is illegal, and I can’t believe people at the top of the Conservative Party are doing this and have allowed this to happen.

“This is corruption, frankly, and it needs to have a heavy hand from the top.”

Sir Ed said: “We think there should be a Cabinet Office inquiry. I think the Gambling Commission will rightly look at this.

“I hope they come down heavy on those people who look like – I haven’t seen the details but they look like – they’ve acted illegally and immorally.”

Michael Gove has said he is “almost lost for words’ after three Tory members were accused of placing a bet on when the election would be held.

Although he said the party will have to wait for the investigations to conclude, he said: “You shouldn’t be using inside information to try to make a few hundred quid on the side. That is just not acceptable.”

It’s “terrible”, he said and he was “disappointed” as the “future of this election really matters to me and my children”.

New poll suggests nearly three in five (59%) UK adults have very little or no confidence that the political parties have run honest campaigns.

But the perception is most strongly felt amongst people who are undecided on how to vote on 4 July, more than three-quarters of whom (77%) said the campaigns have not been honest.

The snap poll by Savanta for Full Fact suggested that the campaign may have hit undecided voters hardest with 78% of people not confident that the parties have run honest campaigns.

Chris Morris, Chief Executive of Full Fact, said: “Political parties need to stop hammering away at one another with misleading statistics and start an honest dialogue with the country about the issues at stake.

“In these last weeks of the campaign, politicians need to realise that the people yet to make up their mind are amongst the most likely to think that political parties haven’t been straight with them. And the window to persuade them that more honest, transparent politics is on the ballot is closing fast.”

Michael Gove has said he hopes General Election candidates “wouldn’t need to be told” not to make bets on an election they may have insider knowledge of.

Asked whether whips or the Conservative Party had warned campaigners not to engage in gambling behaviour linked with an election, the Levelling Up Secretary said: “I would hope you wouldn’t need to be told.

“Obviously, if as a private individual I put a bet on the Grand National or on the Euros, that’s one thing, but using privileged inside information is wrong.

“As a general rule, one certainly shouldn’t place commercial bets on political matters if you’ve got that sort of information. I can imagine, between two friends, you might have a bet on the, you know, price of dinner, something over which you’ve got no influence, so I could imagine, for the sake of argument, two politicians having a bet over whether or not it’s going to be (Donald) Trump or (Joe) Biden, something like that.”

Mr Gove added he would not want to be “puritan” about betting but said: “It is concerning if people use inside information in the way that’s been alleged or reported.”

Sir Keir Starmer has declined to say whether he would meet former US president Donald Trump at the Nato summit in Washington D.C.

The Labour leader said: “Well, I’m not going to get ahead of myself by suggesting what might happen the other side of the election.

“What I will say is this – that the Labour Party has a proud history when it comes to Nato.

“We were a founding signatory to the treaty, which was in Brussels, with (Ernest) Bevin’s signature on it. We’re absolutely committed to Nato. That’s an unshakable commitment.

“We will, of course, work with others in relation to anything to do with Nato, which we are already doing in opposition.”