Starmer says Sunak was ‘bullied’ into action over gambling scandal – as Metropolitan Police investigates ‘small number of cases’
Sir Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of being “bullied into action” over the election gambling scandal after a question over politicians’ “lack of integrity and honesty” in the final TV debate.
As the debate in Nottingham came to an end, the Metropolitan Police released a statement saying it was taking on a “small number of cases” to assess whether some of those involved have committed misconduct in public office. The Gambling Commission will continue to probe alleged breaches of the Gambling Act, it said.
The first audience member to grill the two leaders at the BBC debate said allegations of betting on the election have left many “dismayed”.
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Sir Keir compared the scandal to ‘partygate’, saying: “You have to lead from the front on issues like this.
“When one of my team was alleged to have been involved and investigated by the Gambling Commission, they were suspended within minutes, because I knew it made it really important to be swift.
“The prime minister delayed and delayed and delayed until eventually he was bullied into taking action.”
Mr Sunak responded: “It was important to me that given the seriousness and the sensitivity of the matters at hand that they were dealt with properly, and that’s what I’ve done.”
He added that he is “furious” and “frustrated” over the allegations.
Police to look at claims of misconduct in public office
Scotland Yard was responding to reports in The Sun that the Met is taking over the entire Westminster gambling investigation.
It said in a statement on Wednesday evening: “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.
“Met detectives will lead on investigating a small number of cases to assess whether the alleged offending goes beyond Gambling Act offences to include others, such as misconduct in public office. We will provide further information tomorrow.”
At least five Conservatives have been embroiled in claims they placed bets on the vote, alongside one from Labour.
Wednesday’s debate was the last before voters go to the ballot box on 4 July. A Sky News snap poll suggests the public viewed their performance equally.
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Sir Keir Starmer (left) and Rishi Sunak in Nottingham. Pic: PA
The first section was somewhat overshadowed by loud shouting from protesters outside the building.
Referencing the noise, presenter Mishal Husain said the protest, which was in support of the people of Gaza, was an example of “democracy” and people “expressing their freedom of speech”.
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Pro-Palestinian protest disrupts debate
Throughout the 75-minute debate, Mr Sunak repeated pleas to stop Labour “surrendering” the public’s finances and Britain’s borders, claiming they will put up taxes if voted into Downing Street.
Sir Keir made several references to his experience as director of public prosecutions, suggesting it evidences his ability to “smash the gangs” behind people smuggling, reduce small boat crossings, and protect women’s spaces.
Asked about gender recognition certificates for transgender people, both men agreed single-sex spaces should be defined by “biological sex”. But Sir Keir said he wanted to “stop the business of always trying to divide people”.
On getting people back to work, Mr Sunak put forward policies to tighten out-of-work benefits after 12 months.
Sir Keir said the answer is to reduce NHS waiting lists to ensure more people off long-term sick can re-enter the workforce. He also insisted that Tory promises of tax cuts are “unfunded”.
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‘Are you two really the best we’ve got to be PM?’
Audience accuses leaders of being ‘mediocre’
One member of the audience accused the prime minister of being “fairly mediocre”, while also claiming Sir Keir was having his “strings pulled by senior members of the Labour Party”.
In response, Mr Sunak said he “understood” people’s frustrations – with the Tories – but also “with me” – imploring people to “think about what a Labour government would mean” for their finances and whether they can afford it.
Sir Keir referenced his working with the police on the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland as head of the Crown Prosecution Service and his reform of the Labour Party as proof he keeps to his word.
But he added that “after 14 years of this”, he is not surprised people feel “the hope has been beaten out of them”.
When quizzed by an audience member who had lost European business since Brexit, the Labour leader pledged to “get a better deal” with the EU.
Mr Sunak claimed, however, that would mean “freedom of movement through the back door”.
On housing and the challenges of home ownership for young people, Mr Sunak repeated manifesto pledges to abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers and re-introduce the right-to-buy scheme.
Sir Keir said he would work to reduce high rents that eradicate people’s savings and introduce low-deposit mortgages.
Tories to address business leaders as Labour pledge on careers
The Conservatives are focusing on their business policies on Thursday, with trade secretary Kemi Badenoch set to speak at the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference.
She will say: “We recognise that innovation and competition are the powerful forces that bring us prosperity and lift living standards.
“For Labour, on the other hand, private business is just a vehicle to pursue their political objectives – a managed economy, heavily regulated, heavily taxed and weighed down by trade union demands.”
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Labour, by contrast, is honing in on education, by promising two weeks’ work experience for all young people.
The party says it will do this by recruiting 1,000 careers advisers and building relationships between employers, schools, and colleges.
Their analysis claims one million children risk not having access to the right job opportunities and career advice over the next five years – should the Conservatives stay in power.
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson says one million young people could benefit from her plans.
Pressure is growing to renegotiate or leave an international convention blamed for slowing building projects and increasing costs after a judge warned campaigners they are in danger of “the misuse of judicial review”.
Under the Aarhus Convention, campaigners who challenge projects on environmental grounds but then lose in court against housing and big infrastructure have their costs above £10,000 capped and the rest met by the taxpayer.
Government figures say this situation is “mad” but ministers have not acted, despite promising to do so for months.
The Tories are today leading the call for change with a demand to reform or leave the convention.
In March, Sky News revealed how a computer scientist from Norfolk had challenged a carbon capture and storage project attached to a gas-fired power station on multiple occasions.
Andrew Boswell took his challenge all the way the appeal court, causing delays of months at a cost of over £100m to the developers.
In May, the verdict handed down by the Court of Appeal was scathing about Dr Boswell’s case.
“Dr Boswell’s approach is, we think, a classic example of the misuse of judicial review in order to continue a campaign against a development… once a party has lost the argument on the planning merits,” wrote the judges.
They added: “Such an approach is inimical to the scheme enacted by parliament for the taking of decisions in the public interest,” adding his case “betrays a serious misunderstanding of the decision of the Supreme Court” and “the appeal must therefore be rejected”.
Another case – against a housing development in a series of fields in Cranbrook, Kent – was thrown out by judges in recent weeks.
The case was brought by CPRE Kent, the countryside challenge, to preserve a set of fields between two housing developments alongside an area of outstanding natural beauty.
John Wotton, from CPRE Kent, suggested it would have been hard to bring the challenge without the costs being capped.
“We would’ve had to think very carefully about whether we could impose that financial risk on the charity,” he told Sky News.
After his case was dismissed, Berkeley Homes said the situation was “clearly absurd and highlights how incredibly slow and uncertain our regulatory system has become”.
They added: “We welcome the government’s commitment to tackle the blockages which stop businesses from investing and frustrate the delivery of much needed homes, jobs and growth.
“We need to make the current system work properly so that homes can actually get built instead of being tied-up in bureaucracy by any individual or organisation who wants to stop them against the will of the government.”
‘Reform could breach international law’
Around 80 cases a year are brought under the Aarhus Convention, Sky News has learned.
The way Britain interprets Aarhus is unique as a result of the UK’s distinctive legal system and the loser pays principle.
Barrister Nick Grant, a planning and environment expert who has represented government and campaigns, said the convention means more legally adventurous claims.
“What you might end up doing is bringing a claim on more adventurous grounds, additional grounds, running points – feeling comfortable running points – that you might not have otherwise run.
“So it’s both people bringing claims, but also how they bring the claims, and what points they run. This cap facilitates it basically.”
However, Mr Grant said that it would be difficult to reform: “Fundamentally, the convention is doing what it was designed to do, which is to facilitate access to justice.
“And it then becomes a question for the policymakers as to what effect is this having and do we want to maintain that? It will be difficult for us to reform it internally without being in breach of our international law obligations”
In March, Sky News was told Number 10 is actively looking at the convention.
Multiple figures in government have said the situation with Britain’s participation in the Aarhus Convention is “mad” but Sky News understands nothing of significance is coming on this subject.
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‘The country faces a choice,’ says Robert Jenrick
The Tories, however, want action.
Robert Jenrick, shadow justice secretary and former housing minister, said the Tories would reform or leave the convention.
He told Sky News: “I think the country faces a choice. Do we want to get the economy firing on all cylinders or not?
“We’ve got to reform the planning system and we’ve got to ensure that judicial review… is not used to gum up the system and this convention is clearly one of the issues that has to be addressed.
“We either reform it, if that’s possible. I’m very sceptical because accords like this are very challenging and it takes many many years to reform them.
“If that isn’t possible, then we absolutely should think about leaving because what we’ve got to do is put the interest of the British public first.”
Mr Jenrick also attacked the lawyers who work on Aarhus cases on behalf of clients.
“A cottage industry has grown. In fact, it’s bigger than a cottage industry,” he said.
“There are activist lawyers with campaign groups who are now, frankly, profiteering from this convention. And it is costing the British taxpayer a vast amount of money. These lawyers are getting richer. The country is getting poorer.”
UK
Colombian man found guilty of double murder after leaving couple’s bodies in suitcases on Bristol bridge
A Colombian man has been found guilty of two murders after taking his victims’ bodies in suitcases to Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge last year.
Yostin Mosquera was convicted of the murders of Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso, who were killed in London on 8 July 2024.
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of murders.
(L-R) Yostin Mosquera murdered Albert Alfonso and Paul Longworth
Mosquera’s victims were 62-year-old Albert Alfonso and his civil partner, 71-year-old Paul Longworth. It is believed that Mosquera, a 35-year-old who worked in the adult film industry, first met Mr Alfonso online.
Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso walk with Mosquera from their house. Pic: Met Police
The three men struck up a friendship, the couple visited Mosquera in Colombia, and they repeatedly flew Mosquera to the UK to stay with them at their flat in London.
While the men would take day-trips to tourist attractions, like Madame Tussauds, Mr Alfonso and Mosquera would engage in extreme sex together.
But in the weeks leading up to their murders, Mosquera was clearly planning his attacks.
He looked online for a freezer and, on the day of the killings, searched for: “Where on the head is a knock fatal?”
The prosecution argued he was financially motivated.
Mosquera has been convicted of two murders. Pic: Met Police
Mosquera repeatedly tried to find the price of the couple’s property in Scotts Road, Shepherd’s Bush, and stole money from Mr Alfonso after murdering him.
On 8 July 2024, Mosquera killed Mr Longworth by hitting him with a hammer, shattering his skull, before hiding his body in a divan bed.
That evening, during sex with Mr Alfonso, Mosquera stabbed him with a knife. A postmortem revealed 22 stab wounds.
Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso. Pic: Met Police
All of this was recorded on cameras, which had been placed in the room by Mr Alfonso.
Mosquera then decapitated the bodies, the heads stored in a freezer which he had delivered on 9 July.
A handyman hired by Mosquera loads the victims’ bodies into a van in suitcases. Pic: Met Police
The other remains were put in suitcases and on 10 July, Mosquera hired a van with a driver to transport him and the bags to Clifton Suspension Bridge.
The prosecution argued Mosquera went to Bristol with the intention of throwing the bags off the bridge.
But, struggling with their weight, Mosquera caught the attention of passers-by, telling them the cases contained car parts.
But people noticed liquid leaking from the bags – blood.
Yostin Mosquera ran off after passers-by noticed the suitcases were leaking blood. Pic: Met Police
Mosquera was later arrested just after 2am on 13 July. Pic: Met Police
Mosquera ran off and was later arrested at Bristol Temple Meads station on 13 July 2024 and charged with both murders.
When the case came to trial, initially at the Old Bailey and then at Woolwich Crown Court, the gruesome footage of Mr Alfonso’s murder was repeatedly played to the jury.
Miranda Jollie, Senior Crown Prosecutor at the CPS, said she found the video “horrific”, but maintained that it was necessary to show the video because of Mosquera’s claims.
Mosquera denied the murders, but admitted killing Mr Alfonso – his defence team argued it was manslaughter by loss of control.
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However, the video evidence contradicts this claim.
It shows Mosquera had hidden the knife before sex, showing the attack was premeditated.
He was also calm as he attacked Mr Alfonso, who was taken off guard, and went to Mr Alfonso’s computer to try and steal from him as he lay dying.
In court, Mosquera argued, through a Spanish interpreter, that Mr Alfonso had repeatedly “raped him” and that Mr Longworth had been killed by Mr Alfonso.
But the prosecution argued there was no evidence to support these claims, while the couple’s relationship was unconventional, it was also “loving”, and Mr Alfonso would never have killed Mr Longworth.
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