Election news – live: Tories suspend two candidates over betting scandal

The Conservative party has announced it has withdrawn support from the two candidates investigated by the Gambling Commission.

A party spokesperson said: “As a result of ongoing internal enquiries, we have concluded that we can no longer support Craig Williams or Laura Saunders as parliamentary candidates at the forthcoming general election.

“We have checked with the Gambling Commission that this decision does not compromise the investigation that they are conducting, which is rightly independent and ongoing.”

It comes as Rishi Sunak faced growing pressure to suspend the Tories accused of placing a bet on the general election from within the party.

The prime minister previously ruled out suspending the candidates until the independent body had concluded the investigation and found guilty.

Craig Williams, the PM’s parliamentary private secretary, was the first person caught up in the scandal, Matt Mathers reports.

He admitted placing a bet on the election prior to Mr Sunak’s announcement after he was approached by a journalist.

The 39-year-old Tory candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr placed a £100 bet with 5-1 odds at Ladbrokes, meaning he would have won £500, but his name was raised as potentially a “politically exposed person”, so the wager was not registered.

That sparked the Gambling Commission writing to firms demanding the details of all bets made on a July election after 1 May, which it is now combing through.

According to The Guardian, which first reported the story, Mr Williams placed his bet via an online account that would have required him to provide personal details, including his date of birth and debit card. The bookmaker also knows the location of the bet.

Mr Williams apologised after admiting that he had placed a wager on the bet, but refused to comment further while the GC carried out its probe.

“I clearly made a huge error of judgment, that’s for sure, and I apologise,” he told. “I will not be expanding on my statement because it’s an independent process.”

A Home Office minister has said he agrees with the frustration expressed by former Olympic rower and Tory candidate James Cracknell over the gambling scandal, Kate Devlin reports.

Earlier this week the Olympian who is standing as a Tory candidate described the party as a “shower of shit” and said “if one of my teammates got caught for cheating, they’d be dead to me” in a social media video.

Asked about the “frustration” expressed by the electorate and Mr Cracknell, Mr Tomlinson told Sky News: “That’s right, and I share his frustration. I agree with the frustration that’s being expressed, more than frustration, the anger as well.”

Actor Idris Elba has joined Sir Keir Starmer as part of a Labour event on knife crime.

The Thor actor, who has been vocal about tackling the London violence, agreed with the Labour leader on the need for a long-term solution.

While speaking in West London, Sir Keir promised a “comprehensive ban on possession of a wider range of lethal weapons”.

Labour will keep the Bibby Stockholm asylum barge in use if elected next week, Yvette Cooper has confirmed.

The party has said it cannot end the use of the vesselimmediately if it wins the general election, but that it wants to end the need for barges and hotels “as fast as possible”. The shadow home secretary was quizzed about Labour’s plans for Bibby Stockholm, which she has criticised in the past over its “eye watering” cost.

Asked during a debate on LBC whether she would take asylum seekers off the barge on day one of a Labour government, Ms Cooper said: “No, obviously you can’t do that on day one.

“I think we need to end these extortionate barges, military bases and hotels… we want to do that as fast as possible but what you have to do first of all, the system is broken, so we need to prevent small boats arriving in the first place and that means smashing the criminal gangs.”

Read The Independent full story below

Victoria Atkins has criticised Labour for planning to introduce self ID for trans people “by the back door”.

Speaking at a press conference this morning, the Health Secretary said: “The Labour Party have been at the heart of this toxic debate.

“Some of Labour’s most senior politicians have run towards this biological denial and embraced it. The man who would like to be foreign secretary called women ‘dinosaurs’ ‘hoarding rights’ and the man who wishes to lead the health service and therefore maternity services said people asking reasonable questions should just ‘get over it’.

“Now we discover that the Labour Party want to dilute women’s rights further through their plans to introduce self-identification by the back door.

“Currently someone who wants to change their legal sex has to live in their acquired gender for at least two years before their application is scrutinised by a panel made up of medical practitioners and qualified legal members. Labour want to abolish this panel and the safeguards it represents.”

The watchdog investigating Tory candidates for allegedly betting on the date of the general election has rejected calls to release the names.

Labour’s national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden wrote a letter to the Gambling Commission asking the independent body to release details of the poeople investigated.

But Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the commission, has replied saying that “to protect the integrity of the investigation, and to ensure a fair and just outcome” it will not be naming the suspects.

He added the commission has asked the suspects to treat the matter confidentially but this requirement “does not preclude other activity relating to the fact of an investigation taking place”.

James Cleverly and Yvette Cooper have been quizzed over their views on leaving the European Court of Human Rights.

Although many Tories have voiced their desire to leave the ECHR, Mr Cleverly said he does not “envisage” this happening.

Ms Cooper said Labour will abide by international law and warned against aligning with countries like Russia.

Yvette Copper has been asked by LBC’s Nick Ferrari whether she agrees with the Tories that immigration is putting pressure on public services.

The shadow Home Secretary has said migration is valuable and people who have done “incredible things” for public sectors should be welcomed.

“But the system has to be controlled and managed,” she adds.