‘Furious’ Sunak tries to override betting scandal

London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he is “furious” about the scandal engulfing some of his Conservative Party candidates betting on the date of the general election, to be held on July 4, as the campaign entered its final week on Thursday.

In the last televised debate before the polls on Wednesday night, Britain’s first Prime Minister of Indian heritage went head-to-head with Labour’s Keir Starmer and was clearly in attack mode as he challenged the Opposition leader eyeing his job over target issues such as taxes. “Mark my words,” the PM said, pointing at Starmer, “your taxes are going up if he is in charge.”

Immigration was also high on the agenda, with both leaders trading blows over a lack of clear policy to tackle soaring illegal migrant figures, with Sunak cautioning voters to not “surrender” the country’s borders to Labour. While the overall media verdict was in his favour as he managed to hold firm during a large share of the fiery contest, the betting scandal continued to dominate the arguments.

“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,” said Starmer.