{"id":80678,"date":"2024-06-25T09:09:14","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T09:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/25\/sunak-should-suspend-betting-scandal-tories-says-ruth-davidson\/"},"modified":"2024-06-25T09:09:14","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T09:09:14","slug":"sunak-should-suspend-betting-scandal-tories-says-ruth-davidson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/25\/sunak-should-suspend-betting-scandal-tories-says-ruth-davidson\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunak should suspend betting scandal Tories, says Ruth Davidson"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sunak<\/div>


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Rishi Sunak should ignore the Gambling Commission and suspend those being investigated over the Tory betting scandal, former Scottish Conservative leader Baroness Ruth Davidson has said.<\/p>\n

The Conservative election campaign has been plunged into crisis as two Tory candidates, two officials, and an officer from Mr Sunak’s close protection team, are being investigated by the Gambling Commission over the placing of bets on the timing of the election.<\/p>\n

Sky News understands many more people are being looked into<\/a><\/strong> as part of the investigation, and more police are being looked into to see if they are involved.<\/p>\n

The prime minister has not suspended any of the people being investigated, saying it is up to the independent Gambling Commission to find out what went on before the party takes any action.<\/p>\n

Follow live general election updates<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

But Baroness Davidson, speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast<\/strong><\/a>, said Mr Sunak should ignore the watchdog and suspend those being investigated.<\/p>\n

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Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News<\/p>\n

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She said: “The Gambling Commission are very, very clear about what you’re not allowed to say when somebody’s being investigated by the Gambling Commission.<\/p>\n

“But I’m sorry, you’re the prime minister of a G7 nation in the middle of an election campaign when you’re fighting for your life.<\/p>\n

“If the Gambling Commission want to shout at you for suspending somebody and saying that, just do it. That’s what leadership is.”<\/p>\n

She said leadership means being a role model and acting “how you would like the people that you work beside and who are learning from you and working for you” to act.<\/p>\n

Baroness Davidson said she thought “nothing was going to be worse than leaving D-Day early<\/a><\/strong>” – but the betting allegations are “reinforcing already bad opinions”.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udc49 Click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts<\/a> \ud83d\udc48<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Monday, Mr Sunak said he is not being investigated by the Gambling Commission and confirmed the Conservatives would conduct their own internal investigation<\/a><\/strong> into the allegations.<\/p>\n

Those being investigated by the Gambling Commission are:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Craig Williams, Mr Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary and Conservative candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr – he has admitted to placing a “flutter” on the election date and says he will cooperate with the investigation;<\/p>\n

\u2022 A close protection officer for the PM – he has been arrested;<\/p>\n

\u2022 Tony Lee, the Conservative Party’s director of campaigns – he has taken a leave of absence;<\/p>\n

\u2022 Laura Saunders, wife of Mr Lee and Tory candidate for Bristol North West – she says she will cooperate with the investigation;<\/p>\n

\u2022 Nick Mason, the Tory party’s chief data officer – he has taken a leave of absence and denies any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

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\n \"Laura\n <\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n Laura Saunders is the party\u2019s candidate in Bristol North West.
\nPic: Laura Saunders for Bristol North West
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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\n \"Craig\n <\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n Craig Williams admitted to betting on the election date. Pic: PA
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More politics:<\/strong>
Taylor Swift gig photo was ‘standout moment’ of Labour campaign<\/a><\/strong>
Davey: We felt we had a duty to talk about caring for our disabled son<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

A Gambling Commission spokesman said: “The Gambling Commission regulates gambling in the interests of consumers and the wider public.<\/p>\n

“Currently, the Commission is investigating the possibility of offences concerning the date of the election.<\/p>\n

“This is an ongoing investigation, and the Commission cannot provide any further details at this time. We are not confirming or denying the identity of any individuals involved in this investigation.”<\/p>\n

A Conservative spokesman told Sky News: “As instructed by the Gambling Commission, we are not permitted to discuss any matters related to any investigation with the subject or any other persons.”<\/p>\n

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What is the law around gambling?<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n

There are stricts rules around gambling, with the latest laws updated in 2005.<\/p>\n

Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005 deals with cheating and says a person commits an offence if they cheat at gambling or do “anything for the purpose of enabling or assisting another person to cheat at gambling”.<\/p>\n

It adds: “It is immaterial whether a person who cheats improves his changes of winning anything, or wins anything.”<\/p>\n

Cheating is defined as an “actual or attempted deception or interference in connection with the process by which gambling is conducted, or a real or virtual game, race or other event or process to which gambling relates”.<\/p>\n

Someone found guilty of cheating at gambling can be imprisoned for a maximum of two years and\/or fined, or six months in prison for a lesser offence.<\/p>\n

Betting with insider knowledge is also not allowed as an MP, with the MPs’ code of conduct prohibiting members from “causing significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the house”.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The other candidates for Bristol North West are:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Caroline Gooch, Lib Dems<\/p>\n

Darren Jones, Labour<\/p>\n

Scarlett O’Connor, Reform UK<\/p>\n

Mary Page, Green Party<\/p>\n

Ben Smith, SDP<\/p>\n

The other candidates for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr are:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jeremy Brignell-Thorp, Green Party<\/p>\n

Oliver Lewis, Reform Uk<\/p>\n

Glyn Preston, Lib Dems<\/p>\n

Elwyn Vaughan, Plaid Cymru<\/p>\n

Steve Witherden, Labour<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Email Beth, Ruth, and Ayesha at electoraldysfunction@sky.uk<\/a>, post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Rishi Sunak should ignore the Gambling Commission and suspend those being investigated over the Tory betting scandal, former Scottish Conservative leader Baroness Ruth Davidson has said. The Conservative election campaign has been plunged into crisis as two Tory candidates, two officials, and an officer from Mr Sunak’s close protection team, are being investigated by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/03\/512x512\/skynews-gfxwhatsapppromo-gfxwhatsapp_6490206.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[603],"tags":[13923,34106,3141,5543,1031,22750,3440],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80678"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80680,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80678\/revisions\/80680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}