Election latest: Rishi Sunak accused of 'behaving badly' in final debate - as he and Keir Starmer get brutal audience question (2024)

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of being "bullied into action" over the election gambling scandal after a question over politicians' "lack of integrity and honesty" in the final TV debate.

As the debate in Nottingham came to an end, the Metropolitan Police released a statement saying it was taking on a "small number of cases" to assess whether some of those involved have committed misconduct in public office (see previous post).

The first audience member to grill the two leaders at the BBC debate said allegations of betting on the election have left many "dismayed".

Sir Keir compared the scandal to 'partygate', saying: "You have to lead from the front on issues like this.

"When one of my team was alleged to have been involved and investigated by the Gambling Commission, they were suspended within minutes, because I knew it made it really important to be swift.

"The prime minister delayed and delayed and delayed until eventually he was bullied into taking action."

Mr Sunak responded: "It was important to me that given the seriousness and the sensitivity of the matters at hand that they were dealt with properly, and that's what I've done."

He added that he is "furious" and "frustrated" over the allegations.

Wednesday's debate was the last before voters go to the ballot box on 4 July. A Sky News snap poll suggests the public viewed their performance equally.

Read more from the debate here:

The Met Police has announced it will take the lead on investigating "a small number of cases" related to the Westminster betting scandal.

A spokesman said the force would "assess whether the alleged offending goes beyond Gambling Act offences to include others, such as misconduct in public office".

The Met is not taking over the entire investigation into bets on the timing of the election, they said.

"The Gambling Commission will continue to lead the investigation into cases where the alleged offending is limited to breaches of the Gambling Act only," said the spokesperson.

They added that more details would be provided today.

Good morning!

Welcome back to the Politics Hub on this Thursday, 27 June.

There is exactly one week to go until polls open across the country for voters to select the next government - hasn't time flown?!

There's still plenty that could happen between now and next Thursday, however, and the gambling scandal is very much still dominating headlines.

Here's what's happening today:

• The Met Police has said it is taking the lead in investigating "a small number of cases" in the gambling scandal;
• As a reminder, the key issue under investigation is whether Conservative candidates and officials placed bets on the date of the general election using insider knowledge of when it would be;
• The force said that while it is not taking over the wider investigation into breaches of the Gambling Act, it will lead on the probe into other potential offences, "such as misconduct in public office";
• The scandal was a key issue in last night's leaders' debate, withRishi Sunakreiterating that he is "furious" and "frustrated" over the allegations - butSir Keir Starmeraccused him of having been "bullied"into suspending two candidates;
• The debate itself was not the knockout blow the embattled Tory leader needed to fight back in the polls, with YouGov's snap poll concluding it was a 50-50 draw, with Sir Keir Starmer emerging victorious on key issues;
• Mr Sunak will be out campaigning in the East Midlands and Yorkshire today as he tries to convince voters to back his vision in the final days of the campaign;
• Sir Keir will be also be out speaking to voters and the media as he tries to carry that 'ming vase' over the line without dropping it;
• The battle for seats in Scotland is raging, with the SNP, Scottish Tories, Scottish Greens, and Scottish Labourall on the campaign trail;
• The Lib Demswill also be out promoting their call today for an emergency health and care budget within four weeks of the election to increase NHS funding;
• It comes on the first day of the latest junior doctor strike in their long running pay dispute - and we expect Green Partyco-leader Carla Denyer to show her support on the picket line;
• And Nigel Farageis due to give a speech later before doing some constituency campaigning.

We'll be discussing all of that and more with:

• Kevin Hollinrake, business minister, at 7.15am;
• Bridget Phillipson, shadow education secretary, at 8.05am.

Follow along for the very latest in the general election campaign.

Thanks for joining us for an extremely busy night here in the Politics Hub, including for the final debate between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer before the general election next Thursday.

You can scroll through the page to catch up with the highlights.

And we'll be back from 6am with all the very latest.

Until then - read all the latest from Sky News below:

ByTim Baker, political reporter, in Nottingham

One of the more amusing moments of the debate tonight was Robert, who told Rishi Sunak he was a "mediocre" prime minister and said Sir Keir's strings were being pulled by senior members of the Labour Party.

He is brought into the spin room by BBC production staff for journalists to talk to.

He tells us that he is a life-long Conservative voter - but at the moment is undecided.

Robert says he has recorded the debate and will be watching it again when he gets home.

However, he reckons he is leaning towards the Conservatives - believe Sir Keir has an "undeclared agenda".

Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, has said the UK "deserves so much better" than the leaders' debate held tonight.

Reacting to the clash between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, she said: "Tonight the audience spoke for the nation when they asked: is this really the best we've got?

"Our country deserves so much better than what we watched this evening.

"Liberal Democrats are listening to you and fighting hard for the issues that matter to people.

"From the NHS to tackling the cost of living, we want a fair deal for our country.”

A Conservative win would mean "five more years of chaos" and Rishi Sunak has shown tonight "just how out of touch he is", Labour's campaign coordinator has said.

Reacting to the leader's debate, Pat McFadden said Sir Keir Starmer "exposed the Tory manifesto as unfunded".

"Keir Starmer and Labour will return politics to public service, putting country before party in stark contrast to partygate and dodgy COVID contracts," he said.

"On 4 July, we have a chance to turn the page and start to rebuildwithLabour."

Tonight was an "important moment" for Rishi Sunak as he put his opponent "on the spot", says our deputy political editor Sam Coates.

Coates says he thinks the prime minister would have been "very happy" with his performance - and adds that some of his aides were even "punching the air" after the debate.

It was a performance Mr Sunak "desperately needed earlier in the campaign", he adds.

He says Mr Sunak had a "clear strategy... to demand answers from Keir Starmer on tax and whether it will go up, on welfare and how you get people off benefits, on 'smashing the gangs' and whether the Rwanda policy is needed..."

Coates says Sir Keir provided a "range" of answers as the prime minister sparred with him.

"Sometimes he had specifics, sometimes he did not," he says.

"That strategy, although executed in a way I think that the Conservative Party tonight is very happy with, has nevertheless been judged not decisively in Keir Starmer or Rishi Sunak's favour," says Coates, referring to the YouGov poll showing there was no winner in the final debate of the election (see 21.38 post).

The final TV clash of the election campaign was an ill-tempered shouting match, at least from Rishi Sunak.

Sir Keir was more measured. More prime ministerial, perhaps?

As he had to as the underdog, Mr Sunak went on the attack from the start until the very end and unveiled a new campaign slogan: "Don't surrender…"

He said it no fewer than 15 times during the 75-minute debate. That’s once every five minutes.

But just like the England-Slovenia Euros match 24 hours earlier, the result was a draw: 50%-50% exactly, according to pollsters YouGov.

At the outset, the PM served notice that he wanted to talk about tax, while Sir Keir wanted to talk about politicians gambling.

As Mr Sunak read out prepared lines, it was a smart ad lib from Sir Keir that won the first round of applause.

"If you listened to people in the audience a bit more you might not be so out of touch," he said, in a familiar Labour attack line.

But the PM was strong and came out on top in exchanges on illegal migrants crossing the Channel.

One of the best moments came when a member of the audience, Robert, asked a devastating question: "Are you two really the best we’ve got to the next prime minister of our great country?"

By the end, the debate closed out as it began - with Mr Sunak shouting over the Labour leader. It wasn't a good look.

And as the debate ended, there was no handshake between the pair, which is unusual for these TV clashes.

At least party leaders pretend to be civilised towards each other usually.

There's clearly no love lost between these two - and it showed.

Darren Jones, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, is among the Labour representatives in the spin room this evening.

He's asked first about his leaked comments that Labour's target for decarbonising the economy will cost "hundreds of billions" of pounds.

Sir David Davis, who sticks around for this encounter, asks why Mr Jones's party "downgraded" their net zero plans.

"Because you guys crashed the economy," the shadow chief secretary responds.

Sunak 'behaved badly' in debate

On the leader's debate, Mr Jones says Sir Keir Starmer came across as "clearly more prime ministerial" - and adds that he thinks Rishi Sunak behaved "quite badly".

"He didn't answer questions that were put to him and was constantly speaking over Keir and Mishal [Husain, the BBC host]."

He denies Sir Keir's remarks that Mr Sunak is out of touch were "below the belt".

"Rishi Sunak is going around the country telling everyone that they've never had it so good... they crashed the economy, people at home know that because they paid the price for it."