LONDON: Five more police officers allegedly placed bets on the timing of the UK general election, a force spokesperson said Tuesday, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak withdrew support from two Conservative candidates over the escalating scandal.
The row has overshadowed the closing stretch of the election campaign as Sunak struggles to close his party’s 21-point average poll deficit to Keir Starmer’s Labour opposition before the July 4 vote.
London’s Metropolitan Police said the Gambling Commission had informed it that five additional officers and a member of Sunak’s protection team were believed to have gambled on the election date.
The protection officer was arrested this month on suspicion of misconduct in a public office and has been placed on restricted duties, the Met said.
The five newly accused have not been arrested and do not “work in a close protection role,” the force added.
“It is still the case that only one officer is under criminal investigation,” it said.
The development came as the Conservatives announced that “as a result of ongoing internal inquiries” it could no longer support Craig Williams or Laura Saunders as candidates at the election.
The two are being investigated by the regulator over claims they bet on when the election would be held, and if they did so based on inside information.
Nominations have closed so they will still appear on ballot papers.
Sunak, who has said he is “incredibly angry” over the claims, has come under mounting pressure in recent days from inside and outside his party to act on them.
He took the country by surprise on May 22 when he announced the date of the election six months before he had to.
Williams, a sitting MP, had served as Sunak’s ministerial aide.
He is alleged to have placed a £100 ($127) bet on a July date for the election three days before Sunak called the vote.
Saunders, a Conservative candidate for the southwestern city of Bristol, is married to the Tories’ director of campaigns, Tony Lee. He has taken a leave of absence from the campaign following the allegations.
The party’s chief data officer, Nick Mason, has also stepped back from duties over allegations he placed dozens of bets on the election date.
Political bets are allowed in the UK but using insider knowledge to do so is against the law.
In a separate move, Labour announced Tuesday that it had suspended Kevin Craig, its candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich in eastern England, after it emerged he was facing a Gambling Commission inquiry.
The party did not say why Craig was being investigated, but Sky News and the BBC reported that he placed a bet on the outcome in his seat in the election, and not its date.
“With Keir Starmer as leader, the Labour party upholds the highest standards for our parliamentary candidates, as the public rightly expects from any party hoping to serve, which is why we have acted immediately in this case,” a spokesperson said.
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More UK police officers accused in election betting scandal
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More UK police officers accused in election betting scandal
- The row has overshadowed the closing stretch of the election campaign as Sunak struggles to close his party’s 21-point average poll deficit to Keir Starmer’s Labour opposition before the July 4 vote
Texas governor declares Muslim civil rights group a terrorist organization
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday declared one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the US a “foreign terrorist organization” under a proclamation that he said allows the state to try shutting them down.
He also designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations “a transnational criminal organization” and said it would not be allowed to buy land in the state. The proclamation also included the Muslim Brotherhood.
Neither the CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the US government.
CAIR told Abbott in a letter that his announcement had no basis “in law or fact.” The group accused his office of stoking “anti-Muslim hysteria.”
“You do not have the authority to unilaterally declare any Americans or American institutions terrorist groups, nor is there any basis to level this smear against our organization,” wrote Robert S. McCaw, CAIR’s government affairs director.
Months ago, Texas Republicans moved aggressively to try to stop a Muslim-centered planned community around one of the state’s largest mosques near Dallas. Abbott and other GOP state officials launched investigations into the development tied to the East Plano Islamic Center, saying the group is trying to create a Muslim-exclusive community that would impose Islamic law.
EPIC City representatives called the attacks about Islamic law and other assertions misleading, dangerous and without merit. Earlier this year, the Justice Department closed a federal civil rights investigation into the planned community without filing any charges or lawsuits.
In his proclamation, Abbott cited a law he signed this year that he said prohibits “foreign adversaries” from purchasing or acquiring land. The Republican author of that bill praised the governor’s declaration.
“Today proves exactly why that law was needed,” Republican state Rep. Cole Hefner posted on X.
The Muslim Brotherhood was established in Egypt nearly a century ago and has branches across the world. Its leaders say it renounced violence decades ago and seeks to set up Islamic rule through elections and other peaceful means. Critics, including autocratic governments across the Mideast region, view it as a threat.
He also designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations “a transnational criminal organization” and said it would not be allowed to buy land in the state. The proclamation also included the Muslim Brotherhood.
Neither the CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the US government.
CAIR told Abbott in a letter that his announcement had no basis “in law or fact.” The group accused his office of stoking “anti-Muslim hysteria.”
“You do not have the authority to unilaterally declare any Americans or American institutions terrorist groups, nor is there any basis to level this smear against our organization,” wrote Robert S. McCaw, CAIR’s government affairs director.
Months ago, Texas Republicans moved aggressively to try to stop a Muslim-centered planned community around one of the state’s largest mosques near Dallas. Abbott and other GOP state officials launched investigations into the development tied to the East Plano Islamic Center, saying the group is trying to create a Muslim-exclusive community that would impose Islamic law.
EPIC City representatives called the attacks about Islamic law and other assertions misleading, dangerous and without merit. Earlier this year, the Justice Department closed a federal civil rights investigation into the planned community without filing any charges or lawsuits.
In his proclamation, Abbott cited a law he signed this year that he said prohibits “foreign adversaries” from purchasing or acquiring land. The Republican author of that bill praised the governor’s declaration.
“Today proves exactly why that law was needed,” Republican state Rep. Cole Hefner posted on X.
The Muslim Brotherhood was established in Egypt nearly a century ago and has branches across the world. Its leaders say it renounced violence decades ago and seeks to set up Islamic rule through elections and other peaceful means. Critics, including autocratic governments across the Mideast region, view it as a threat.
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