Rishi Sunak roasted by Question Time audience member over ‘lack of ethics’ that have come to define Tory party
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has endured another car crash general election debate, as he appeared before an audience for the BBC’s Question Time leaders debate.
The first question for Sunak highlighted how the UK had turned into a laughing stock under Tory rule, before he was asked: “Would you confess to us tonight, even just a small amount of embarrassment to be leading the Conservative party into this election campaign”.
He was then grilled about the betting scandal engulfing the Conservative Party, in which candidates are being investigated by the Gambling Commission relating to allegations of placing bets on the timing of the general election.
A question time audience member was applauded for asking Sunak: “Aren’t these emerging allegations about betting on the election date the absolute epitome of the lack of ethics that we have had to tolerate from the Conservative party for years and years”.
It comes as the party’s director of campaigning, Tony Lee, is also being looked into by the Gambling Commission over an alleged bet relating to the timing of the general election.
The BBC reports that that ‘Mr Lee – who took a leave of absence from his job on Wednesday afternoon – is married to a Conservative candidate who is being looked into by the betting industry regulator.’
Lee is married to Laura Saunders, the Tory candidate for Bristol North West, who is now the second Conservative Party candidate facing an investigation over allegedly betting on the timing of the general election.
It is not as of yet known how much money Ms Saunders placed or when the bet was made.
The latest incident comes a week after Rishi Sunak’s close parliamentary aide Craig Williams, the Tory candidate in Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, was also revealed to have placed a bet on a July election date three days before the prime minister announced it.
Rishi Sunak’s close protection officer has also been arrested and suspended over alleged bets about the timing of the general election.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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