Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Westminster gambling row has deepened after a cabinet minister revealed he had placed bets on the date of the general election.Scotland secretary Alister Jack denied having broken any rules but said he put three wagers on the timing of the July 4 poll, becoming the latest of seven politicians and officials to get drawn in to the controversy.It comes after Sir Keir Starmer took aim at Rishi Sunak’s leadership ability over the betting scandal, accusing the prime minister of “failing to grasp the nettle” and take action quickly enough.Speaking to The Independent, Sir Keir insisted that, had Labour candidates been involved in allegedly trying to use insider information to make bets, they “would have been straight out of the door” and their “feet wouldn’t have touched the ground”.This claim was quickly tested on Tuesday, when Labour was dragged into the row. The party suspended its candidate Kevin Craig after it emerged he had bet that he would lose to the Tories in the contest for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.Mr Sunak will face further pressure over the latest revelation, which comes after he caved to mounting calls from within the Tory Party to withdraw support for two parliamentary candidates facing a Gambling Commission investigation.Alister Jack is the latest figure to have become embroiled in the controversy over alleged betting on the timing of the election (Michal Wachucik/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailArsenal Football Club has been forced to distance itself from Jeremy Corbyn after the former Labour leader promoted a “Gooners for Corbyn” event on social media.Alongside a picture of the club’s beloved mascot Gunnersaurus, Mr Corbyn urged supporters to canvas for him wearing Arsenal kits.“Are you an Arsenal fan?”, he asked, “Join our Gooners 4 Corbyn canvass on Wednesday at 6PM.“Meet in front of the Arsenal Gift Shop outside the Emirates Stadium. Wear your Arsenal shirt!”Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign.But the club told The Independent that it does not back Mr Corbyn, who is standing against the Labour Party as an independent candidate in Islington North.A club source said: “To be clear, the club does not endorse any candidate locally or nationally.”Mr Corbyn was suspended as a Labour MP in 2020 over his response to a damning report on antisemitism under his leadership.Mr Corbyn posed alongside Gunnersaurus for the photo More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour has rebuilt its relationship with low-income people and is no longer “out of touch”, according to a new study by a major think-tank, while the Conservatives have lost ground significantly.Five years ago, Labour was seen as the most “out of touch” party, according to voters on the lowest incomes (some 6 million households with an income of less than £21,000).Nearly half of those questioned in 2019 (45 per cent) regarded Labour as ‘out of touch”. But this figure has plummeted under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership with just of a quarter of low-income people (27 per cent) now taking this view.The Conservative Party now hold this unenviable reputation with 40 per cent of the poorest voters seeing it as out of touch, up 6 per cent since 2019.Starmer has rebuilt trust with Britain’s poorest (Jane Barlow/PA)The figures come from Breadline Britain’s Election Battleground, a new report from the Centre for Social Justice, which commissioned polling by Survation.Labour is overwhelmingly the most popular party amongst the poorest, with half of those polled saying they would vote for it. This is a 14 per cent increase since 2019. Meanwhile, Conservative support among this group has dropped by 8 per cent to just 15 per cent overall.However, despite Labour regaining ground among low-income voters, the report warns that politicians remain deeply unpopular, with more than half of low-income voters, 57 per cent, saying that “no political party really cares about helping people like me”.It points to a clear disconnect between low-income voters and the politicians who are meant to represent them. Over three quarters (76 per cent) of the poorest say they have never met or spoken to their local MP.Under Jeremy Corbyn Labour was seen as out of touch (Lucy North/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has taken aim at Rishi Sunak’s leadership ability over the election date betting scandal, accusing the prime minister of “failing to grasp the nettle” and take action quickly enough.The Labour leader’s taunts came on the day that Mr Sunak finally agreed to suspend the candidates, two weeks after the allegations first emerged. The scandal continued to deepen on Tuesday when Scotland Yard confirmed that five more police officers were alleged to have placed bets on the timing of the general election. The Met said it had been passed information on the allegations by the Gambling Commission.Speaking to The Independent, Sir Keir insisted that, had Labour candidates been involved in allegedly trying to use insider information to make bets, they “would have been straight out of the door” and their “feet wouldn’t have touched the ground”.Just a few hours after the interview, the Labour leader made good on his words, suspending Central Suffolk and North Ipswich candidate Kevin Craig after being told he was also being investigated by the Gambling Commission. Sir Keir also handed back Mr Craig’s £100,000 donation to the party.The Labour leader made it clear that the final week of the election campaign would be about character and leadership, and who is best placed to make the tough decisions in government.Sir Keir’s attack on the prime minister had echoes of the 2010 campaign, when Gordon Brown was described as “frit” by David Cameron as he headed towards defeat.Starmer, pictured discussing knife crime with actor Idris Elba on Tuesday, has been critical of the prime minister’s handling of the betting scandal More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Britain’s gambling regulator has alleged that five more police officers bet on the timing of the country’s July 4 national election, the Metropolitan Police said Tuesday, as claims widen that people close to the government used inside information for their own profit.The Metropolitan Police said the Gambling Commission passed on information on the five officers’ alleged misconduct. The officers, who provided protection for royalty, politicians and diplomats, have not been arrested.An investigating by the gambling watchdog is ongoing, police said. The development comes after it emerged that several members of the governing Conservative Party and one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s police bodyguards were being investigated for allegedly using inside information to place bets on the date of the election before it was announced.The bodyguard was arrested last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office.The scandal, coming just days ahead of the national election, has overshadowed the Conservatives’ campaign. The party is widely expected to lose to the opposition Labour Party after 14 years in power.On Tuesday, the Conservative Party said it was pulling support for two election candidates, Craig Williams and Laura Saunders, who were under investigation by the Gambling Commission over the alleged betting. But because nominations have closed, both politicians will remain on the ballot paper. Williams said he would continue with his campaign, is cooperating with the commission and plans to clear his name. “I committed an error of judgment, not an offense, and I want to reiterate my apology directly to you,” he said in a video posted on the X social media platform. 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 for placing a 100-pound ($128) bet on a July election days before the date had been announced.Saunders’ husband, Tony Lee, the Conservative director of campaigning, has taken a leave of absence following allegations he was also investigated over alleged betting.A fourth Conservative, the party’s chief data officer Nick Mason, was also reportedly being investigated over the matter. On Tuesday, Labour said it had suspended one of its own parliamentary candidates, Kevin Scott, after being told the Gambling Commission was investigating him over betting on the outcome of the race in his constituency. More