LONDON: The chief data officer of Britain’s Conservative Party has taken a leave of absence, British media reported Sunday, following growing allegations that the governing party’s members used inside information to bet on the date of Britain’s July 4 national election before it was announced.
The Sunday Times and others reported that Nick Mason is the fourth Conservative official to be investigated by the UK’s Gambling Commission for allegedly betting on the timing of the election.
The Times alleged that dozens of bets had been placed with potential winnings worth thousands of pounds.
The reports came after revelations in recent days that two Conservative election candidates, Laura Saunders and Craig Williams, are under investigation by the gambling watchdog. Saunders’ husband Tony Lee, the Conservative director of campaigning, has also taken a leave of absence following allegations he was also investigated over alleged betting.
Police said one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘s police bodyguards was arrested Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The arrest came after the gambling regulator confirmed it was investigating “the possibility of offenses concerning the date of the election.”
The growing scandal, just two weeks ahead of the national election, has dealt a fresh blow to Sunak’s Conservative Party, which is widely expected to lose to the opposition Labour Party after 14 years in power.
Sunak said this week that he was “incredibly angry” to learn of the allegations and said that anyone found to have broken the law should be expelled from his party.
Sunak announced on May 22 that parliamentary elections would be held on July 4. The date had been a closely guarded secret and many were taken by surprise because a vote had been expected in the fall.
Saunders, a candidate standing in Bristol, southwest England, has said she will cooperate fully with the investigation.
Williams was Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary as well as a member of Parliament running for reelection on July 4. He has acknowledged that he was being investigated by the Gambling Commission for placing a 100-pound ($128) bet on a July election before the date had been announced.
Senior Conservative minister Michael Gove condemned the alleged betting and likened it to ” Partygate,” the ethics scandal that contributed to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ouster in 2022.
That controversy saw public trust in the Conservatives plummet after revelations that politicians and officials held lockdown-flouting parties and gatherings in government buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
“It looks like one rule for them and one rule for us,” Gove told the Sunday Times. “That’s the most potentially damaging thing.”
Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said “people are sick and tired of this sleaze” and that Sunak must intervene and order an official inquiry.
The Conservative Party said it cannot comment because investigations are ongoing.
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UK election betting scandal widens as a fourth Conservative Party official reportedly investigated
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UK election betting scandal widens as a fourth Conservative Party official reportedly investigated
- The Times alleged that dozens of bets had been placed with potential winnings worth thousands of pounds
India says accomplice of Delhi car blast ‘suicide bomber’ arrested
NEW DELHI: Indian authorities said on Sunday that a deadly car blast in New Delhi earlier this week was an attack carried out by a “suicide bomber,” announcing the arrest of an accomplice.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the country’s counter-terrorism law enforcement body, said the alleged attacker and the second suspect were both from Indian-administered Kashmir, where police have carried out sweeping raids in recent days.
Announcing “a breakthrough” in the investigation, the NIA said in a statement it had arrested Amir Rashid Ali, “in whose name the car involved in the attack was registered.”
He had “conspired with the alleged suicide bomber, Umar Un Nabi, to unleash the terror attack,” it added, without specifying any possible motive.
Nabi, a resident of Kashmir, was an assistant professor in general medicine at a university in the northern state of Haryana, according to the counter-terrorism agency, which said it had seized a vehicle belonging to him.
Ali had come to Delhi to “facilitate the purchase of the car which was eventually used as a vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED) to trigger the blast,” the NIA said.
The explosion on Monday took place near a busy metro station close to the landmark Red Fort in the capital’s Old Delhi quarter, where the prime minister delivers the annual Independence Day address.
A hospital official has said the blast killed 12 people. It was unclear whether the toll included Nabi.
The NIA’s statement said the attack “claimed 10 innocent lives and left 32 others injured.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the attack a “conspiracy,” and his government vowed to bring the “perpetrators, their collaborators and their sponsors” to justice.
It was the most significant security incident since April 22, when 26 mainly Hindu civilians were killed at the tourist site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, triggering clashes with Pakistan.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and both claim the Himalayan territory in full. Tensions remain high between New Delhi and Islamabad.
On Friday, nine people were killed when confiscated explosives blew up at a police station in Indian-administered Kashmir, in what authorities said was an accident.
Local media reported that a militant organization had claimed responsibility for it, which police dismissed.
The explosives had been recovered from Haryana state just before the powerful car blast in Delhi, according to the police.
Indian media have widely connected the Delhi blast with a string of arrests just hours prior.
Police said those arrested were linked with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based and Al-Qaeda-linked group, as well as a Kashmiri offshoot linked to it.
The group that claimed the police station blast is considered close to JeM.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the country’s counter-terrorism law enforcement body, said the alleged attacker and the second suspect were both from Indian-administered Kashmir, where police have carried out sweeping raids in recent days.
Announcing “a breakthrough” in the investigation, the NIA said in a statement it had arrested Amir Rashid Ali, “in whose name the car involved in the attack was registered.”
He had “conspired with the alleged suicide bomber, Umar Un Nabi, to unleash the terror attack,” it added, without specifying any possible motive.
Nabi, a resident of Kashmir, was an assistant professor in general medicine at a university in the northern state of Haryana, according to the counter-terrorism agency, which said it had seized a vehicle belonging to him.
Ali had come to Delhi to “facilitate the purchase of the car which was eventually used as a vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED) to trigger the blast,” the NIA said.
The explosion on Monday took place near a busy metro station close to the landmark Red Fort in the capital’s Old Delhi quarter, where the prime minister delivers the annual Independence Day address.
A hospital official has said the blast killed 12 people. It was unclear whether the toll included Nabi.
The NIA’s statement said the attack “claimed 10 innocent lives and left 32 others injured.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the attack a “conspiracy,” and his government vowed to bring the “perpetrators, their collaborators and their sponsors” to justice.
It was the most significant security incident since April 22, when 26 mainly Hindu civilians were killed at the tourist site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, triggering clashes with Pakistan.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and both claim the Himalayan territory in full. Tensions remain high between New Delhi and Islamabad.
On Friday, nine people were killed when confiscated explosives blew up at a police station in Indian-administered Kashmir, in what authorities said was an accident.
Local media reported that a militant organization had claimed responsibility for it, which police dismissed.
The explosives had been recovered from Haryana state just before the powerful car blast in Delhi, according to the police.
Indian media have widely connected the Delhi blast with a string of arrests just hours prior.
Police said those arrested were linked with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based and Al-Qaeda-linked group, as well as a Kashmiri offshoot linked to it.
The group that claimed the police station blast is considered close to JeM.
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