Sunak and Starmer exchange heated words over gambling scandal in final debate before polls

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak and Labour Party leader Kier Starmer got into a heated argument over their responses to the Westminster gambling scandal. In the final head-to-head debate before the country goes to polls, the Labour leader launched a fierce attack on the culture of the Tories, saying it showed the “wrong instinct” to place bets on the future of the country.

Starmer went on to compare it to the ruling administration’s cavalier attitude to Covid rules. Meanwhile, Sunak repeatedly urged the country not to “surrender” itself to the Labour’s plans on tax and migration. However, the British premier acknowledged the growing frustration with the conservatives.

“I understand why you’re frustrated with our party, with me, I get it. But this is not a byelection, it’s a choice with profound consequences for you and our country,” he said.

“And before you make that choice, think what a Labour government would mean. Can you afford to pay at least £2,000 more in tax?… And if you’re not certain about Labour, don’t surrender to them, don’t vote for any other party, vote Conservative,” Sunak furthered.

Starmer quickly interjected and dismissed Sunak’s assertion. “That is a lie [on tax], he’s been told not to repeat that lie and he’s just done it,” he said.

The election betting scandal took centre stage at the final debate

It is important to note that five Conservative politicians and staffers have now been suspended for allegedly betting on the election date. Interestingly,  the Labour Party was drawn into the gambling row on Tuesday after being forced to suspend one of its own candidates for betting.

Starmer brought up the issue at the debate and said that he had suspended his candidate, Kevin Craig, “within minutes”. He went on to slam Sunak for taking days to make a similar decision. “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 said.

“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,” Starmer furthered.

The Labour Party leader went on to claim that Sunak had “delayed and delayed and delayed” and had been “bullied into” taking action. “My candidates know I have the highest standards. They have seen by my actions the consequences,” he exclaimed.

The jabs from Starmer came after the Met Police confirmed that it was investigating a “small number of cases” related to the Westminster gambling row to “assess whether the alleged offending goes beyond Gambling Act offences to include others, such as misconduct in public office”.

The Met police went on to assure that it will investigate the matter more thoroughly. “The Met is not taking over the investigation into bets on the timing of the General Election. The Gambling Commission will continue to lead the investigation into cases where the alleged offending is limited to breaches of the Gambling Act only,” it said.

With inputs from agencies.

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