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.
The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running.
Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.
Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure
The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.
The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.
The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.
These steel workers could soon be out of work
However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.
Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.
However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.
They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.
The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.
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Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.
“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”
British Steel declined to comment.
UK
Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released
Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.
Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.
The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace
Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.
So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?
In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.
The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.
Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.
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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?
Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.
But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.
Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.
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He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…
“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.
Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.
He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.
He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.
“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”
We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.
With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.
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