Labour leader Keir Starmer aimed a cheeky dig at the Conservatives with a piercing jibe about betting.
Mr Starmer made the pointed remark while being interviewed by GB News' Christopher Hope on Friday evening.
Mr Hope tried to get Mr Starmer to commit to bringing the number of illegal crossings down by trying to get him to shake on a low-stakes bet.
The GB News presenter said: "Will you bet a pint of beer you'll get a boat crossing numbers down?"
Starmer cheekily shot back: "Betting in politics is not a very good idea. I think Rishi Sunak is in all sorts of trouble with bets on his side."
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It comes as the Conservative campaign continues its downward spiral after Rishi Sunak refused to rule out whether members of his Cabinet placed bets on when the General Election date would be.
Gambling Commission officials have launched an investigation into three senior Tories after a flurry of bets were placed on when the election would take place.
An unusually high spike in the number of bets took place on the day before Mr Sunak announced the election, putting a sharp focus on who knew it would happen and when.
Mr Sunak was told to "come clean" about the number of people who were involved. The Conservative Party has admitted it was aware of "a small number" of people who were being probed, but it stopped short of saying how many.
Top Tory David TC Davies was grilled over whether more Conservatives would emerge in connection with the scandal.
The Welsh Secretary went as far as denying he'd placed any bets.
During a Question Time special yesterday, Mr Sunak said he was "incredibly angry" about the allegations that Tory members close to him were embroiled in the scandal but ultimately refused to suspend candidates.
Tory Candidates, Laura Saunders and Mr Sunak's aide Craig Williams as well as Ms Saunders' husband Tony Lee are among those who are being investigated.
Mr Lee quit as the party's campaigning chief after it emerged he was also under investigation.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said Mr Sunak was showing "a total lack of leadership" after he bungled the handling of the betting scandal.
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Mr Starmer told broadcasters during a campaign visit to Scotland: "The Prime Minister is showing a total lack of leadership. Let's look at what actually happened.
"In relation to a General Election, the instincts of these Tories when a General Election is called is not how do we make this work for the country? But how do I make some money? And that tells you a broader picture about politics.
"Of course he should suspend these candidates. If they were my candidates, they'd be gone by now, out of the door. He needs to take tough action. He's not even saying today whether there are more involved."
This live blog has now ended.
Frontbench Tory James Cleverly and other Conservatives have hit out at Nigel Farage after the Reform UK leader said the West provoked the Ukraine war.
Mr Cleverly took to X, formerly Twitter, and said: "Just Farage echoing Putin's vile justification for the brutal invasion of Ukraine."
Tobias Ellwood added: "Shocking statement. Churchill will be turning in his grave. This is why he should never lead the Conservative Party."
Keir Starmer shared a touching photo of him and his wife attending a Taylor Swift concert in London.
Victoria has kept a low profile during the campaign to focus on her work in the NHS and to help their child through exam season at school.
Starmer posted the snap on X, formerly Twitter, adding: "'Swift' campaign pitstop."
âSwiftâ campaign pitstop. pic.twitter.com/VdSo7Pb0i5
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 21, 2024
Labour leader Keir Starmer aimed a cheeky dig at the Tories over the party's betting scandal during an interview on GB News.
Starmer made the jibe while being interviewed by the broadcaster's Christopher Hope tonight.
Hope asked Starmer if he would accept a bet over bringing the number of migrant crossings down, adding: "Will you bet a pint of beer you'll get a boat crossing numbers down?"
Starmer cheekily shot back: "Betting in politics is not a very good idea. I think Rishi Sunak is in all sorts of trouble with bets on his side."
Nigel Farage has stood by his comment describing Andrew Tate as an "important voice" for men as he greeted supporters in Clacton-on-Sea.
The Reform UK leader had praised Tate while speaking on the Strike It Big podcast in February for defending "male culture" and said the "jury is out" on investigations into the influencer, The Guardian reported.
Since December 2022, Tate has faced charges in Romania of human trafficking, rape, and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, which he denies.
Asked whether Tate was an "important voice" for men as he was leaving a meeting with supporters, Mr Farage told the PA news agency: "He's got a massive following and that shows you how big the gap is.
"I mean, clearly he's facing some serious allegations and has said some things that are difficult to level with, but the fact that he's got the following shows you how big the gap is."
Nick Robinson tonight gave Nigel Farage a merciless ribbing over Reform UK's deeply flawed maths when the wannabe MP failed to reveal where his party would find £140billion worth of funding to fulfil their pledges.
The 60-year-old former MEP, who is standing in his eighth attempt to gain a parliamentary seat, was invited on a special edition of BBC Panorama with Nick Robinson, the latest in a series of Q&A sessions with the leaders of the major political parties.
But the usually cocksure Nigel was left floundering when Nick grilled him on Reform's promise to spend £140billion on healthcare, tax cuts, upping numbers of soldiers and increasing the number of police officers.
Read more: Nigel Farage brutally mocked for I'm A Celeb past as he fails to answer £140bn question
Farage defended his party's policies during the debate Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was tonight grilled by BBC veteran journalist Nick Robinson over previous comments he made about King Charles, including calling him an "eco-loony."
Mr Farage and Mr Robinson duelled over the course of 30 minutes during a BBC One Panorama special where the Brexiteer's record came under sharp focus. Mr Robinson quizzed Mr Farage over his deep-seated opposition to net-zero targets.
The pair squared off against one another over the issue of climate change with Mr Farage advocating for scrapping the net zero programme. But the face-off soon moved on to less-than-flattering remarks Mr Farage made about then-Prince Charles.
Read more: Nigel Farage grilled over branding King Charles an 'eco-loony'
Farage and Robinson clashed during the interview (PA)Nigel Farage has claimed the West "provoked" the Russian invasion of Ukraine as he was challenged during a 30-minute interrogation.
The comments from the Reform leader came as he was also grilled over his previous praise of the Russian President Valdimir Putin. Appearing on BBC Panorama, Mr Farage was asked whether he stood by a post on X that the Russian leader's invasion in 2022 was a "consequence of EU and NATO expansion".
He replied: "I stood up in the European Parliament in 2014 and I said, and I quote, 'there will be a war in Ukraine.' Why did I say that? It was obvious to me that the ever-eastward expansion of NATO and the European Union was giving this man a reason to his Russian people to say, 'They’re coming for us again,' and to go to war. "
Read more: Nigel Farage claims West 'provoked' Russian invasion of Ukraine in BBC Panorama grilling
Nigel Farage claimed the West "provoked" the Russian invasion (PA)The BBC Panorama election special with Nigel Farage has now ended.
Nick Robinson put it directly to Nigel Farage: "You’ve had a candidate that claims Africans have a low IQ. Why do you think that people with really extreme and unpleasant views rally to your cause?"
Farage responded: "We’ve also had an awful lot of candidates being stitched up in the most extraordinary way with quotes being taken out of context."
Nigel Farage said he wants to scrap net zero targets in the UK. He added: "Right, listen, we’ve deindustrialized.
"Our steelworks close, where do they go? India. The same steel gets produced in India under lower environmental standards and then shipped back to us.
"Globally by closing those steel plants, the amount of CO2 put into the air has gone up. All we’ve done is to export the emissions."
As the interview moves onto healthcare in the UK, Farage asked, "what is the NHS for?"
He added: "You’ve got to ask yourself a question. What is the NHS for? Right? And the original concept, the one we should defend totally now is that it’s free at the point of delivery."
Farage said he wants to employ British nurses allowing foreign ones to come into the country.
He added: "I’ve got cases now of nurses who’ve been through university, who’ve been denied jobs in British hospitals because, because the NHS, with government support, have been employing foreign nurses and British ones qualified with big debt aren’t being employed."
Nigel Farage said the Tories did not believe in Brexit and instead used it as a piece of political opportunism.
Farage denied Brexit had been a failure, rather politicians had failed to deliver on its promises.
He said: "It’s not a failure, but we failed to deliver. It can’t be a failure, we’ve left the European Union, we’re now self-governing; the question is then, what do you do with it."
"I want to ask you about another leader that you’ve said you admired, let’s take a look at Liz Truss, another leader that you say you admired," Robinson said. "Millions of people, remember the mini-budget, you’re laughing but you said on the day of the mini-budget, Twitter’s very helpful, ‘today’ you said, ‘was the best Conservative budget since the 1980s.’"
Farage countered: "Well, she wanted to get rid of IR35 Rules, which are damaging the self-employed. She wanted to change corporation tax, back to a more sensible level.
"There were a lot of things here that were pro-growth and pro-business. The one big mistake she made, she didn’t have any cuts in spending. Interestingly though—."
The BBC's Nick Robinson has grilled Nigel Farage over his previous positive comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Farage said: "I admired him as a political operator because he’s managed to take control of running Russia."
He added the West provoked Russia into a war in Ukraine and was a consequence of EU and NATO expansion.
Nigel Farage believes Reform UK will win several seats after being shown polling that predicts the party will play a significant role routing the Tories.
Farage claims there is no right-wing in British politics, adding the Tories have not been a low tax party.
The clash between Nigel Farage and Nick Robinson is now live on BBC One.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will go head-to-head with the BBC's Nick Robinson in a Panorama election special.
The pair will tackle climate change, the war in Ukraine and Farage's views on the Conservative Party.
Tonight's Panorama special will air at 7pm on BBC One.
Anyone popping in to "The Duke Of Greenwich", close to Maze Hill station in South East London this month, might wonder if they're visiting an art gallery, rather than a pub.
Over a hundred cartoons featuring the talent of more than sixty of the UK's top artists adorn the walls; making this humble local the home of one of, if not THE best collections of contemporary art in the country just now. And relax admission is free, and you can still get a beer!
Read more: Mirror cartoonist Pete Songi's infamous satirical art sketches in huge exhibition in pub
The artwork is on display near Maze Hill station in South East LondonMore than two-thirds of Brits believe a prospective MP who placed a bet with insider knowledge of the general election date should face criminal prosecution.
A YouGov poll found 77% of Brits believed they should face criminal prosecution compared to 10% who said they should not.
If staff members / prospective MPs with insider knowledge of the date of the general election are found to have made a bet on that date before it was announced, do you think they should or should not face criminal prosecution?
— YouGov (@YouGov) June 21, 2024
Should: 77%
Should not: 10%https://t.co/FiPucbqwaI pic.twitter.com/xaojWMK7Wl
The Tories will fight dirty in the final days of the election campaign in a desperate bid to cling to power, Jonathan Ashworth has warned.
The Labour campaign strategist said the party is braced for Rishi Sunak and his pals to get further into the “gutter” with smears aimed at Keir Starmer.
In an interview with the Mirror, the Shadow Paymaster General warned Labour voters not to repeat 1992 by believing the election has already been won. “Don't make the mistakes that people made in the past when thinking it's all over,” he said. “You may think it's all over, it's not yet.
“Look at what is at risk in this election. I think people will be asking themselves, how would they feel if they woke up the day after the election and the Tories have got in for another five years. How does that make you feel inside?”
Read more: Tories will fight dirty in final days, warns Labour campaign strategist
Ashworth believes the Tories will fight dirty in the last days of the campaign (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)Angela Rayner added of the Prime Minister with regard to the gambling allegations: “I think he should reveal what he knows about what happened – and also I find it astonishing that action hasn’t been taken in regards to that.
“But to be honest nothing surprises me with the Conservatives at the moment because they’ve proven time and time again that they are not there for the public duty.
“We need to turn a page and have a Government that has the interests of the working people of this country at their heart.”
Nigel Farage's Reform UK party has overtaken the Tories according to our latest poll in a hammer blow for Rishi Sunak.
The Mirror's weekly election survey by Whitestone Insight finds the Conservatives are trailing in third place - just two weeks out from the General Election. Reform is on 20% - up three points on last week's poll - while the Tories remain on a meagre 19% after a grim week for the PM.
Labour support dipped slightly on last week's survey but Keir Starmer's party continues to enjoy a massive 20-point lead over the governing party. Claudia Toma, a consultant at Whitestone Insight, described Reform's surge above the Tories as a "historic moment" and evidence of "disillusion" among Tory voters.
Mr Sunak has been struggling to turn around the Conservative Party's dire poll rating since gambling on a summer election back in May. His campaign has been setback by a series of self-inflicted blunders and gaffes, including his decision to leave D-Day commemorations early.
read more: Rishi Sunak on the ropes as Nigel Farage's Reform overtakes Tories in latest poll
Rishi Sunak is on the ropes with Reform UK surging in the polls (Getty Images)Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner called for the Tories and the Prime Minister to “come clean” and disclose further details of alleged breaches of gambling rules.
During a visit to a manufacturing technology centre near Coventry, Ms Rayner was asked if the Prime Minister should confirm how many people were known to be involved in the election date betting row.
Ms Rayner responded: “I think he should be up front if he knows what the details are. He should explain and inform people about that.
“I think it’s worse for the Conservative Party that they’ve got this drip-feed approach. I think they should just come clean and tell people what’s happened.
“I think a lot of people are starting to make their minds up now because we’ve had a pattern of behaviour. It’s not just one issue that we’ve seen now with the betting scandal. We’ve had time and time again… this approach of self-service as opposed to service for the country.”
Soap star Holly Valance has donated £50,000 to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, after months of cosying up to the party.
The Australian-born former Neighbours actress turned popstar now lives in London with her husband, the millionaire property mogul Nick Candy. Mr Candy, a former Tory donor, was pictured at the infamous Covid lockdown-busting Christmas party hosted by mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey.
The former popstar shot to fame on the soap Neighbours when she joined the cast as Felicity 'Flick' Scully in 1999. Her father, Rajko Vukadinović is Serbian, and her mother Rachel is British.
Ms Valance donated to the party under the name Holy Vukadinović. Following her breakout soap role, she moved to the UK to pursue a music career.
Read more: Holly Valance donates £50k to Nigel Farage's Reform UK using her father's name
Valance donated £50,000 to Farage's party (Dave Benett/Getty Images)A woman whose farm shop Rishi Sunak visited on the campaign trail said she was still “on the fence” after the Prime Minister’s trip.
Gail Swan said she backed the Conservatives in 2019 “because he (Boris Johnson) cared” and is undecided ahead of the July 4 vote.
But she said she thought Mr Sunak also cared based on what he had said during the visit.
“(I’m) on the fence,” she told the PA news agency after Mr Sunak visited her farm shop in North Wales.
She said there was a “long way to go” until polling day and she would continue to listen to what different parties said during that time.
The most important issue for Ms Swan at the General Election is farming and agriculture, she said.
Labour candidate Fred Thomas has shared a rebuttal of Tory Johnny Mercer's claim he lied about his military service.
Mr thomas said on X, formerly Twitter: "Shcoked and disappointed by the hustings yesterday. Service should be above political point scoring.
"My time as Royal Marines Commando is a privilege of a lifetime. It would be an honour to serve Plymouth in Parliament, as I served our nation before."
Shocked and disappointed by the hustings yesterday.
— Fred Thomas (@FredThomasUK) June 21, 2024
Service should be above political point scoring.
My time as Royal Marines Commando is a privilege of a lifetime. It would be an honour to serve Plymouth in Parliament, as I served our nation before. https://t.co/ADwDaDIVyD pic.twitter.com/9XfFyqx17S
Rishi Sunak spoke to a butcher’s apprentice as he visited a farm shop in north-east Wales.
The Prime Minister asked: “Did you enjoy getting stuck in from the beginning?”
“Yeah, I just kind of fell into it,” the apprentice said.
The Prime Minister was shown different cuts of meat and appeared to suggest they would be nice for a “barbecue on Sunday”.
Mr Sunak was shown a selection of local produce including chorizo jam, meats and gin.
“Very beautiful gin bottles,” he said. “Quite a display over there.”
A Tory minister has refused to rule out more Conservatives being dragged into the betting scandal.
David TC Davies said he had "absolutely no idea" if more names will emerge in a Gambling Commission probe. It comes as pressure piled on Rishi Sunak to kick out those accused of placing bets on the timing of the General Election.
Welsh Secretary Mr Davies went as far as denying he'd placed any bets. He told Sky News when asked if others will be dragged in: "I have absolutely no idea, none whatsoever, the news of those two was a complete surprise to me.
"I just want to put on record that I certainly haven't bet myself, I haven't made any bets on anything for many years, I didn't know the election was coming until probably the morning, I had an inclination, I wasn't absolutely certain even then, and I've no idea who - if anyone - has placed any bets and what further investigation is going on."
Read more: Top Tory refuses to rule out more names emerging in election gambling scandal
David TC Davies said he had "absolutely no idea" if more Tory names would emerge in the gambling scandal
