RISHI Sunak has denied involvement in the betting scandal engulfing the Conservative election campaign.
The Prime Minister said the Conservatives had been carrying out their own “internal” probe and “will act” if it finds any wrongdoing over the scandal that has engulfed the party.
With the Tories still far behind in the polls and after a bruising few days dominated by the controversy, Sunak is facing pressure, including from the party ranks, to take a more robust stance against those involved.
Speaking in Edinburgh on Monday for the launch of the Scottish Tory manifesto, Sunak said: “[The Gambling Commission] don’t talk about the individuals that they are investigating.
“What I can tell you is I am not aware of any other candidate that they are looking at.”
He added: “What I can tell you is, in parallel, we’ve been conducting our own internal inquiries and of course will act on any relevant findings or information from that and pass it on to the Gambling Commission.”
Sunak ruled out himself and family members of being the subject of investigation and said he had never placed a bet on politics while serving as an MP.
The Prime Minister in February bet TV presenter Piers Morgan (above) £1000 that his Rwanda deportation scheme would be a success.
The faltering Conservative campaign has been plunged into a deeper crisis by the gambling controversy, over which four Tory officials and candidates are being investigated.
The party’s chief data officer Nick Mason is the latest figure understood to be taking a leave of absence amid claims he placed bets on the election date, along with director of campaigning Tony Lee.
Lee’s wannabe MP wife Laura Saunders and fellow candidate Craig Williams (below), who was a parliamentary aide to the Prime Minister, are also under investigation by the Gambling Commission.
Facing questions from broadcasters on Monday morning, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris rejected calls, including from within Tory ranks, for those facing a probe to have the party whip withdrawn while it is ongoing.
Asked why tougher action had not been taken, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think what you’re trying to suggest is that someone is guilty until they’re proven innocent and that is not how this works.”
Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood on Monday joined a growing chorus of senior Tory voices calling for the Prime Minister to take action.
The Conservative candidate for Bournemouth East said the scandal was a “deeply unhelpful, self-inflicted distraction” and suggested the Prime Minister should have suspended those being investigated.
Keir Starmer called on Sunak to “show some leadership,” and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said it was “one rule for the Conservatives and another for others”.
Sunak sought to move on from the fallout with a rallying cry to Tory activists at the party’s Scottish manifesto launch in Edinburgh on Monday as polling day approaches.
He said it would take decades to recover from the “disaster” of a Labour government as he urged members to fight for every vote in the closing stages of the election campaign.
The Prime Minister said only the Scottish Conservatives have the “courage to stand up to the nationalists” north of the border, as he attacked both the SNP and Labour in his speech.
He said: “If the SNP win the majority of seats at this election, they will treat that as a mandate to carry on campaigning for independence for another five years.
“A vote for the Scottish Conservatives is a vote to put this issue to bed, to move past these tired and stale arguments and to go forward united and together.”
