As British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer faced off in their final televised debate on Wednesday night ahead of next week’s general election, a betting scandal which is likely to become the source of major embarrassment to the ruling Conservative Party continued to grow.
On Wednesday, it emerged that the Metropolitan Police have taken a more prominent role in an investigation into bets that senior politicians and officials placed on the upcoming general election.
Amid angry exchanges with the prime minister about plans for taxation, immigration and even transgender rights, Starmer took aim at top Conservatives who are suspected of using inside information to bet on the date of the election before it was announced when he said it showed the “wrong instinct” to bet on the future of the country.
Described by one senior Conservative figure, Baroness Ruth Davidson, as akin to political “insider trading”, allegations that some party officials placed bets on the date of the election look set to hound what could be the Conservative government’s final days after 14 tumultuous years in office.
“Firstly, I mean, how tawdry is it?” raged Davidson on last Friday’s Sky News Electoral Dysfunction podcast about the allegations currently pummelling her party, which has been led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak since 2022.
Davidson, the former leader of the Scottish Conservative Party at the devolved Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, added: “I literally have no words. I’ve been involved in fighting elections for more than 15 years and I literally have no words.”
What is the scandal about?
Allegations that some Conservative candidates and officials bet on the date of Britain’s July 4 general election have been growing since it was revealed two weeks ago that Craig Williams, an aide to Sunak, had placed a 100-pound ($127) wager on there being a July vote just days before Sunak himself announced the date of the poll to the British public.
So far, five Conservative officials have been named as being under investigation by the Gambling Commission (GC) for allegedly placing bets on a July election using inside party knowledge.
The GC, the United Kingdom body responsible for regulating Britain’s gambling laws, is believed to be investigating as many as 15 Conservative Party candidates and officials for allegedly betting on the timing of the election.
In a separate but related development, the Conservative Party’s Scottish Secretary Alister Jack admitted to placing several small bets on the election date during March and April – but has insisted that he broke no rules and said that he was not under investigation by the GC.
In a twist on the betting scandal, The Sun newspaper reported on Wednesday that another Conservative, Philip Davies, bet 8,000 pounds ($10,115) that he would lose his marginal seat of Shipley in West Yorkshire in the upcoming election. Davies told the Sun that he “fully expects to lose” his seat to Labour, which is forecast to win, and added that it was “nobody’s business” if he decided to bet against himself.
The Labour Party has not emerged entirely unscathed by the betting scandal. Kevin Craig was stripped of his candidacy by the Labour Party on Tuesday after it came to light that he was under investigation by the GC for betting that he would lose his own bid to become an MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich in the upcoming election.
Conservative MP Craig Williams, pictured here after winning the constituency of Montgomeryshire in the UK’s 2019 general election, in Builth Wells, Wales, UK on December 13, 2019, was the first to be named as one of those being investigated by the Gambling Commission [File: Rebecca Naden/Reuters]
Which five Conservatives are under investigation for placing bets?
Williams, the first to be named as being under investigation by the Gambling Commission (GC), was standing as the Conservative Party candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr in Wales when he came under investigation.
The 39-year-old admitted to making a “huge error of judgement” in seeking to make money from placing his 100-pound bet, with odds of 5-1, on the election date, meaning he could have won 500 pounds ($633). He has not revealed whether he had inside knowledge of the election date before he made his bet, but Ladbrokes, the betting firm with which he placed the wager, refused to register the bet after it flagged him up as a “politically exposed person”, and referred the matter to the GC.
Laura Saunders was the second party official to come under GC investigation as she canvassed as the Conservative candidate for Bristol North West. Saunders was soon joined by her husband, Tony Lee, the Conservative Party’s director of campaigning, who took a leave of absence after it emerged that he was also being investigated by the GC.
On Tuesday, both Williams and Saunders were dropped by their party as candidates, but they appear to still be contesting their respective seats, meaning that, if elected, they would sit as independents in the House of Commons.
The Conservative Party’s chief data officer, Nick Mason, became the fourth Conservative to come to the attention of the GC after it was alleged that he, too, had placed a number of election bets before the date of the snap poll was announced by Sunak.
Russell George, a Conservative member of the devolved Welsh Parliament, was revealed on Tuesday evening as the fifth party figure to face an inquiry by the GC, despite not running for a seat himself in the general election.
An unnamed police constable, who was part of the prime minister’s security detail, was arrested on June 17 following allegations that he had placed a similar bet. A further five police officers are also being investigated by the GC, it has since emerged.
What are the rules for MPs and others placing bets using inside information?
Section 42 of the 2005 Gambling Act explicitly forbids gamblers from using inside information (also known as insider trading) to place a bet or provide the necessary information to someone else to place a bet on their behalf. It carries a maximum two-year prison sentence.
The Parliamentary Code of Conduct also warns MPs against doing anything which might “cause significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons”.
Appearing on a special edition of BBC Question Time on June 20, Sunak himself stated that the scandal is “a really serious matter – it’s right that they’re being investigated properly by the relevant law enforcement authorities”.
Sunak said he was “incredibly angry” about the allegations. “The integrity of that process should be respected,” he said. “But what I can tell you is, if anyone is found to have broken the rules, not only should they face the full consequences of the law, I will make sure that they are booted out of the Conservative Party.”
What does this mean for the Conservative Party’s election campaign?
Sunak’s Conservative Party was already trailing badly behind Labour in the polls prior to the betting revelations. A recent Savanta survey for the Telegraph has shown that this is likely to further damage the party, with two-thirds of voters saying they disapproved of Conservative candidates placing bets on the date of the election.
Furthermore, this scandal is just the latest in a long list of controversies that have dogged Britain’s ruling Conservatives in recent times, and is symptomatic of a party that has grown “corpulent with complacency” during its 14 years in power, said Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London.
“As the 19th-century politician, Lord Acton, once wrote, ‘Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,’” Bale said of the Conservative Party’s list of travails, such as “Partygate”, the scandal over parties and gatherings held at then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official residence in Downing Street during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, which broke lockdown rules.
Bale said: “Because the Labour Party provided no serious opposition to them for a decade, all too many Conservatives, having had it too easy for too long and taking their cue from the very top, got used to thinking they could, as the saying goes, get away with murder.”
He added: “But that era of impunity was never going to last once Labour recovered its senses and voters grew tired of the government’s failure to deliver on the fundamentals.”
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
