A betting scandal surrounding the election date has led to more controversy for Rishi Sunak this week, with multiple Conservatives being investigated by the Gambling Commission following unusual betting patterns. This morning it is reported that the Tories’ chief data officer, Nick Mason, is part of the inquiry. On Sky News, Trevor Phillips asked Home Secretary James Cleverly if this was an example of his party’s ‘moral decay’. Cleverly said he would ‘not in any way defend people who placed bets on that’, but that he could not discuss details while the investigation was ongoing. He added he ‘had no reason to believe,’ any of his cabinet colleagues were involved.
Cleverly: ‘Why he picked the word crap I don’t know’
James Cleverly was also asked to respond to a recording of Conservative aide James Sunderland describing the Rwanda policy as ‘crap’. Cleverly told Laura Kuenssberg he was glad she played the whole recording, in which Sunderland goes on to say the policy would create a shockwave effect, and that a similar policy had worked well in Australia. Kuenssberg pressed Cleverly on why one of his own team would use that description with a friendly audience. The Home Secretary suggested Sunderland had used words ‘clearly designed to shock’, and said he knew ‘how committed’ Sunderland was to the policy.
Phillipson: ‘there are trans people within society and their existence should be recognised’
Laura Kuenssberg asked shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson to clarify Labour’s position on government guidance surrounding gender identity in schools. Draft guidance that would ban the teaching of gender identity in schools was expected to come into effect later this year. Phillipson said she agreed that schools needed more guidance around such issues in general, but it was ‘too important to make this a culture wars issue’. Kuenssberg asked what Labour’s guidance would actually be. Phillipson said many aspects of the government’s draft had ‘good and straightforward’ principles, but schools needed to know ‘how best support children… that are experiencing distress’.
Did SNP staff use public money for campaigning?
Laura Kuenssberg questioned Scottish First Minister John Swinney over allegations that Scottish National party staff have been using stamps paid for by public money as part of their election campaign. Swinney said he had been ‘assured’ that this was not the case. Kuenssberg referenced an SNP WhatsApp conversation in which one of Swinney’s assistants wrote: ‘the stamp fairy is very useful when it comes to campaigns’. Swinney claimed that these were simply ‘humorous remarks’, and that he was confident no public money had been used.
Sharon Graham: ‘Labour has one shot to say to workers: ‘we are with you’’
Finally, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham was asked on Sky News why Keir Starmer would ‘pay notice’ to her if he won a big majority. Graham said she was confident he would, and claimed that Labour had ‘one shot’ to convince workers to stick with them. Graham argued that the polls were volatile, and implied that workers would change their allegiance to Reform if they weren’t supported. She said that waiting for growth would not be quick enough.