British police said Thursday they would investigate some of the cases of people, including politicians and police officers, suspected of placing fraudulent bets on the date of the general election, a scandal that has plagued the Conservative Party’s campaign.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police in London indicated that some of these bets could constitute “reprehensible behavior in the context of a public duty”, beyond just non-compliance with the rules surrounding betting. However, she did not specify whether elected officials and political leaders were targeted by her investigations.
For several weeks, the commission responsible for regulating betting has suspected that some people took advantage of inside information due to their proximity to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to bet on the date of the election. Of all the cases examined by the commission, “a small number require a wider criminal investigation by the police,” said Katherine Goodwin, in charge of the investigation at the Met Police, quoted in the press release.
After much procrastination criticised by the opposition, two suspected Conservative candidates, including former Rishi Sunak adviser Craig Williams, have had their party support withdrawn for the July 4 poll. Williams admitted an “error of judgement” without confirming that he had confidential information. A Conservative member of the Welsh local parliament is also targeted by the investigation.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was again challenged on Wednesday night over the scandal during his latest televised debate with his Labour opponent, Keir Starmer, and reiterated that the allegations made him “incredibly angry”. But he refused to answer questions on Thursday about whether he had informed Craig Williams ahead of his decision to call an early election, citing the ongoing investigation.
Separately, police said that at this stage, seven police officers are under investigation by the Betting Regulatory Commission. One of them was arrested on June 17 and then released on parole pending investigations.
