UK general election live: Scottish secretary says he placed bets on date but has ‘not breached any gambling rules’ | General election 2024

Here is a what we can expect on the campaign trail today:

Labour will talk up its pledge to end the 8am scramble for GP appointments by training more doctors and updating the NHS app so slots are easy to book and rearrange.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting will be promoting the message, saying his party is also committed to bringing back the family doctor, to give patients continuity.

While Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey continues campaigning across traditionally Tory heartlands in southern England, his Scottish counterpart will be in the south-east of Scotland.

Alex Cole-Hamilton says his party is focusing its aim on getting the SNP out of power and targeting the Uparty in some key seats ahead of the 4 July ballot.

Reform UK chairman Richard Tice will be in Scotland giving a speech on net zero and “saving the oil and gas industry”.

Tonight Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will make their closing arguments to the nation as they go head to head in their final TV debate before polling day next week.

In his interview with Paul Brand on ITV tomorrow, Keir Starmer will say that if elected, he wants to be PM for a decade.

Here is that exchange, from a transcript released by ITV:

Paul Brand: You’ve talked about a decade of national renewal. Do you want to be prime minister for a decade. If that’s what the electorate wants?

Keir Starmer: Oh I want to see that through

[…]

Paul Brand: You’d be 71 if you were prime minister for a decade. Have you got the energy to be prime minister at 71?

Keir Starmer: I’m determined to see this through. I’ve got, certainly got the energy, the intent the steel.

Paul Brand: You’re not worried about your knee when you are 70?

Keir Starmer: You know, I’m still playing football every week, uh, managing 90 minutes. I’ve been playing since I was 10 years old. So these knees have been through a lot of games.

The Green Party is to set out a plan for the UK’s rivers, as it calls for a “drastic change” to be made to water and sewage infrastructure, PA reports.

Under its proposals, the party is pledging to nationalise water companies and invest £12bn in infrastructure to prevent sewage being dumped into rivers and seas.

During a campaign visit to the River Wye, the Greens are also expected to urge the next government to increase funding to the Environment Agency to give it “teeth”.

On Wednesday, the party will test the River Wye for phosphate levels, alongside TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, as they call for a water protection zone around the river.

Between 72-74% of phosphate pollution in the Wye is caused by agriculture, according to Government figures. This can cause the death of many species that are vital to the river ecosystem.

Therefore, the Greens are pledging to triple support for farmers who want to transition to nature-friendly farming.

Ahead of the visit, the party’s candidate for North Herefordshire, Ellie Chowns said:

We are reminded of just how much this shared resource means to the community and why drastic change is needed.

The decline in the Wye’s ecological status is a stark warning that has been ignored for too long. The river has no voice, but it does have a political manifesto that puts its priorities front and centre.

We are here both to demand a water protection zone around the River Wye and to put forward a bold vision for how we can protect all of Britain’s rivers. We need to tackle sewage pollution through real investment in water infrastructure and putting people before profit by taking water companies back into public hands.

And we need to tackle agricultural pollution through proper support for farmers to transition to nature-friendly farming, plus giving the Environment Agency the funding and teeth it needs to enforce the polluter pays principle. With these measures, we can restore our rivers back to health.”

NHS leaders have said the service is expecting “major disruption” as a result of the heatwave and the junior doctors’ strike, PA reports.

Yellow heat health alerts are in place for many parts of the country and will end at 5pm on Thursday, the day junior doctors across the country will down their stethoscopes and pick up placards.

It will be the eleventh walkout by junior doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA) in England, as the bitter dispute over pay rumbles on.

While the weather will become more inclement during the five-day strike, NHS bosses said that the current heatwave has already put strain on the service.

The BMA announced that some senior junior doctors would be given permission to work at the hospitals during the walkouts to “prevent dangerous delays to cancer care”.

Posting on X, it said:

To prevent dangerous delays to cancer care, we are granting a derogation for surgical registrars working on high-risk upper GI, head and neck, and lung cancers at three hospital trusts: Lewisham and Greenwich, Guys & St Thomas’ and Kings College Hospital.

This will help patients who have experienced dangerous delays to their care due to the difficulties of mitigation against the unplanned and malicious cyber-attack. We thank NHS England for raising their concerns with us in the interest of patient safety.

The derogation only applies to surgical registrars in upper GI, head and neck, and lung cancer services at the 3 trusts listed. All other junior doctors, including at these trusts, still can and should strike.”

Let’s take a look at today’s top stories. The betting scandal, and election betting by people working in politics in general, dominate this morning’s front pages.

The Guardian leads with a fifth Conservative facing investigation by the Gambling Commission:

The FT and the Times lead with the Labour MP who bet on himself losing. Labour was drawn into the gambling row for the first time as the party announced it was suspending the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich candidate Kevin Craig after the Gambling Commission launched an investigation. In a statement Craig said, “While I did not place this bet with any prior knowledge of the outcome, this was a huge mistake, for which I apologise unreservedly.”

The Daily Telegraph, Daily Record and The National lead with the bets placed by Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, who admitted to placing three bets, and has denied any wrongdoing. He said he had no knowledge of the date of the election until the day it was called’ and is not under investigation:

Starmer met with a Pastor, Lorraine Jones, who lost her son to knife crime, with the actor Idris Elba, and, along with his wife Victoria Starmer, Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako of Japan.

Meanwhile four men were been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass at Rishi Sunak’s constituency home in Yorkshire, police said.

And Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty attended a banquet for Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako of Japan.

Today is the deadline to apply for a Voter ID certificate or a proxy vote for the general election next week. You must apply by 5pm.

A proxy vote is for someone to vote on your behalf. Voter ID certificates are needed for people who do not already have a valid form of photo identification.

This will be the first UK general election where all voters will have to show a valid form of photo ID before casting a ballot. The Guardian’s Andy Beckett wrote about the new rule in May:

The Guardian’s Pippa Crerar, Vikram Dodd, and Kiran Stacey have revealed that a Conservative politician has become the fifth party figure to be investigated by the gambling watchdog for allegedly placing a suspicious bet on the general election date, as the developing scandal continued to overshadow Rishi Sunak’s campaign.

The Gambling Commission has informed Russell George, a Tory member of the Welsh parliament who represents the same constituency as Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide Craig Williams, that he is part of its inquiry.

The disclosure came after the Tories finally dropped the two Westminster candidates, including Williams, who are under investigation for allegedly placing bets on a July election, after previously standing by them.

George represents Montgomeryshire in the Welsh parliament, covering the same area that Williams represented at Westminster.

In a statement to the Guardian, George said:

Whilst I will cooperate fully with the Gambling Commission, it would not be appropriate to comment on this independent and confidential process.

Doing so would only jeopardise and undermine the investigation. It is the Gambling Commission, not the media, that has the responsibility, powers and resources to properly investigate these matters and determine what, if any, action should be taken.

I have stepped back from the shadow cabinet while the investigation is ongoing. I have done this as I do not wish to be an unnecessary distraction to their work.”

In a separate development, Labour was also drawn into the gambling row for the first time as the party announced it was suspending the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich candidate Kevin Craig after the Gambling Commission launched an investigation.

Craig, a lobbyist and expert in political crisis management, confirmed that he was under investigation for betting that he would not win his own constituency.

Labour said it would now return £100,000 he had donated to the party under Keir Starmer’s leadership, while the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, would give back £13,000 donated for staffing costs.

Marsha de Cordova, another Labour candidate, also said she would give back £2,436 Craig donated earlier this year.

A Labour spokesperson said: “With Keir Starmer as leader, the Labour party upholds the highest standards for our parliamentary candidates, as the public rightly expects from any party hoping to serve, which is why we have acted immediately in this case.”

In a statement, Craig said: “Throughout my life I have enjoyed the odd bet for fun whether on politics or horses. A few weeks ago when I thought I would never win this seat I put a bet on the Tories to win here with the intention of giving any winnings to local charities.

“While I did not place this bet with any prior knowledge of the outcome, this was a huge mistake, for which I apologise unreservedly.”

He added: “It is right that the party upholds the highest standards for its parliamentary candidates – just as the public expects the highest standards from any party hoping to serve in government. I deeply regret what I have done and will take the consequences of this stupid error of judgment on the chin.”

Tens of thousand of people with sight loss will be denied right to a secret ballot

Matthew Weaver

Tens of thousand of people with sight loss will be denied their right to a secret ballot at next week’s general election, campaigners have warned, prompting calls to make it the last inaccessible election.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is calling on all political parties to commit to remove barriers that prevent blind people voting on their own and without help in future elections.

It estimates that 160,000 people in the UK of voting age with severe sight loss will struggle to vote independently because of the lack adjustments made at polling stations.

At the last general election, research for the RNIB found that only 13% of blind people felt they could vote independently and in secret:

Good morning and welcome to today’s live UK politics news with me, Helen Sullivan.

Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary and a Tory cabinet minister, revealed on Tuesday evening that he had placed three bets on the date of the general election, one of which was successful, but said that he wanted to make “absolutely clear I have not breached any gambling rules”.

“I had no knowledge of the date of the election until the day it was called. As I have said previously, I placed no bets in May and am not under investigation by the Gambling Commission,” he said.

The news comes as a Conservative politician has become the fifth party figure to be investigated by the gambling watchdog for allegedly placing a suspicious bet on the general election date, as the developing scandal continued to overshadow Rishi Sunak’s campaign.

The Gambling Commission has informed Russell George, a Tory member of the Welsh parliament who represents the same constituency as Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide Craig Williams, that he is part of its inquiry.

In a statement to the Guardian, George said:

Whilst I will cooperate fully with the Gambling Commission, it would not be appropriate to comment on this independent and confidential process.

Doing so would only jeopardise and undermine the investigation. It is the Gambling Commission, not the media, that has the responsibility, powers and resources to properly investigate these matters and determine what, if any, action should be taken.

I have stepped back from the shadow cabinet while the investigation is ongoing. I have done this as I do not wish to be an unnecessary distraction to their work.”

More on this and other developments shortly.

Here is what is coming up today:

• 9.30am: Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting on campaign visit in the East Midlands. They will visit a GP practiceas Labour sets out plans to end the 8am scramble for GP appointments and bring back the family doctor.

• 10.00am: Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole Hamilton and Edinburgh West candidate Christine Jardine to visit Edinburgh Zoo. They will feed the sloths and tour the soon-to-be completed solar meadow which will help power the zoo.

• 10.30am: SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn will join the SNP candidate for Gordon and Buchan, Richard Thomson, on the campaign trail in Inverurie.

• 12:00: Scottish Greens General Election media call with co-leader Lorna Slater in Inverkeithing.

• 1pm: Reform chairman Richard Tice to give a press conference in Grangemouth.

• 3.20pm: First Minister John Swinney on the campaign trail in Glasgow. He will be with SNP candidate Carol Monaghan.

• 8.15pm: Head-to-head debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to air on BBC One, hosted by Mishal Husain.