General election – latest updates: Ministers admit betting Sunak and Starmer will go head-to-head

Dawn Butler has weighed in on the row between David Tennant and Kemi Vanedoch after the actor told the Equalities Minister to “shut up”.

Ms Badenoch wrote in an online post yesterday: “I will not be silenced. I will not be silenced by men who prioritise the Stonewall clap over the safety of women and girls.”

“Rich, left-wing, white, male celebrities are so ideologically blinded that they cannot see the point of attacking the only black woman in our government and publicly calling for the end of her existence.”

Responding to Ms Badenoch’s response, Ms Butler, Labour candidate for Brent East, said: “Not all black women think the same. I agree with David Tennant. That’s it. That’s the tweet.”

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions was asked why so few of her Cabinet colleagues give interviews to the media this morning. Archie Mitchell I will report.

The Government sends a Minister out each day to answer questions from broadcasters, and Mel Stride has answered more than his fair share of questions since the general election began.

Asked by Sky News why he had made nine public appearances since the start of May while his colleagues had not made any, Stride said it was because much of the campaign had been focused on tax.

“I’m not talking about senior government officials or the Prime Minister, but the whole of Cabinet has not been heard to speak proudly of their pride in the work they do during this election campaign. Are you surprised that you are being deployed so frequently?” Stride was asked.

Regarding taxes, a focus of the election, he said: “This is an area in which I have a particular interest and expertise, and when I’m not talking about gambling or whatever suddenly comes out of stage right, I’m often talking about those very issues.”

Minister for Work and Pensions Mel Stride has defended his cabinet colleague Alistair Jack after he said he had made three bets about the timing of the July 4 vote.

Mr Stride told Times Radio: “I think the key thing about Alistair is the fact that whatever bets or whatever it was that he made, they didn’t take place in May.”

“He has clearly not broken any rules and has not been investigated by the Gambling Commission.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride suggested consideration should be given to banning politicians from gambling.

Asked whether it should be banned, he told Times Radio: “That’s very much a possibility and I think it’s something that needs to be discussed.”

But, he said, “there are many different types of political gambling.”

“My personal opinion is that people shouldn’t do that, but I think it should be discussed more broadly.”

“But I want to be clear: I fully acknowledge that using inside information against specific individuals in this way was completely wrong.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said the election gambling scandal was “deeply disappointing”.

“If proven correct, it is deeply disturbing that someone would use inside information in this way,” he told Times Radio.

“Obviously the Gambling Commission is continuing its investigation and we’ll have to wait for the outcome of that to establish whether that’s the case or not.”

“So if that is what is happening then I would say it is very unfortunate.

“And I’m just as angry as the prime minister. That’s why, after an internal investigation, the prime minister took the decision to suspend some of the candidates who are running in the election. I think that was the right decision. So I think the right step has been taken.”

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer are due to go head-to-head in the final televised debate before next week’s vote, making their final arguments to the public.

The scandal involving candidates and government officials betting on the timing of the election will have a major impact on Wednesday’s clashes, with Cabinet ministers becoming the latest to say they were betting on the timing of the vote.

Labour’s GP promise

Labour will likely highlight its commitment to ending the scramble for 8am GP appointments by training more doctors and updating the NHS app to make it easier to book and change appointments.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting spread the message, saying his party was also committed to bringing back GPs to ensure continuity for patients.

Blue wall and yellow

The Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, will continue to campaign in the traditional Conservative heartland of the south of England, while the Scottish leader will campaign in the south-east of Scotland.

Reform UK chairman Richard Tice is due to visit Scotland to speak about net zero and “saving the oil and gas industry”.

Five years ago, Labour was seen as the most “out of touch” party by voters on the lowest incomes (around six million households earning less than £21,000).

Almost half (45%) of those surveyed in 2019 viewed Labour as “out of touch with reality”, but under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership this figure has plummeted and now just a quarter (27%) of those on lower incomes hold this view.

Five years ago, Labour was seen as the most “out of touch” party by voters on the lowest incomes (around six million households earning less than £21,000).

Almost half (45%) of those surveyed in 2019 viewed Labour as “out of touch with reality”, but under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership this figure has plummeted and now just a quarter (27%) of those on lower incomes hold this view.

The Conservative party currently suffers from this stigma, with 40% of the poorest voters seeing the party as out of touch with reality, a 6% increase since 2019.

The numbers are The poor are Britain’s election battlegroundThe new report comes from the Center for Social Justice, which commissioned the poll from Survation.

The Conservative candidate and long-serving MP said Labour may have overreacted in suspending Kevin Craig after he bet against him in the general election. Archie Mitchell I will report.

Sir Conor Burns, the MP for Bournemouth West since 2010, said Mr Craig “cannot have inside information or actually influence the outcome of a bet, just as any candidate cannot dictate a free vote”.

He recounted the friendship between the two men, which dates back more than 30 years when they were political rivals at Southampton University.

“He’s one of the most polite, open, kind people I’ve ever known, and he’s always been there for me when I needed a friend the most. A good guy,” Bunz said.

The Labor Party has suspended parliamentary candidate Kevin Craig following reports that the Gambling Commission has launched an investigation into him.

Craig, our PR Director, stands in central Suffolk and north Ipswich.