PM Rishi Sunak was last night clobbered over claims his inner circle piled in with bets on the Election date.
Facing an angry BBC Question Time audience, he said anyone found to have broken the rules must face the law and be kicked out of his party.
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Mr Sunak said he was “incredibly angry” to learn of the allegations, adding: “It’s a really serious matter.
“It’s right that they’re being investigated properly by the relevant law enforcement authorities including a criminal investigation by the police.
“I want to be crystal clear: if anyone broke the rules, they should face the full force of the law.”
Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer was also called out by the York audience for his past support for Jeremy Corbyn, flip-flopping on trans issues and vague promises to tackle migration and the boats crisis.
And the two men vying for the keys to No10 both faced tough questions on trust.
Mr Sunak, the last party leader to speak, was asked if he felt any embarrassment at being the fifth Tory Prime Minister since 2010.
He insisted that when he stood on the steps of No10 he acknowledged “mistakes had been made”.
In a thinly veiled attack on ex-PM Liz Truss, he said: “In fact, you may remember I spent the summer before that arguing against the policies that my predecessor had suggested were right.
“I didn’t think they were right for the country and I said so.
“But what I’d ask you to do is judge me on my 18 months that I’ve been in office.
“I came in with one primary job and that was to bring back economic stability after the difficult few years that we’ve had.”
Earlier, audience member Emma told Sir Keir that his support for Mr Corbyn gave her concerns about his “integrity and trust”.
But Sir Keir hit back saying: “I’ve always backed the Labour Party.”
He accused Mr Sunak of repeating Mr Corbyn’s mistakes of including “unfunded commitments” in his manifesto.
I have always backed the Labour Party
Keir Starmer
And he repeated his assertion that he did not think Mr Corbyn would win the 2019 election, despite claiming at the time he “would be a great PM”.
He added: “Look, he would be a better prime minister… look what we got. We got Boris Johnson.
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“I didn’t think we were in a position to win that election (in 2019)”.
But Emma told him she was not convinced by his answer.
Sir Keir again refused to put a number on how much Labour would cut net migration.
He said: “Migration is at record levels under this Government.
“They’ve lost control. We need to get that number down significantly.
Migration is at record levels at the moment under this Government
Keir Starmer
But he added: “I’m not going to put an arbitrary figure on it because every single politician who has done so has never met it.”
He also pledged to push ahead with removing tax breaks for private schools to pay for more teachers in the state system.
Sir Keir vowed to clear the backlog of NHS waiting lists completely by the end of first term of a Labour government. He said he would make a start on cutting waiting lists straightaway.
Pressed on when the public could expect them to come down to a reasonable level, he said: “We will be able to do two million a year on this model.
“That means that over the course of the Parliament, we’ll get it down and clear the backlog completely.”
Sir Keir was also confronted about his flip-flopping views on gender and his treatment of Labour MP Rosie Duffield, a feminist campaigner.
The Labour leader, who once said it was wrong to say only women could have a cervix, said: “On the biology, I agree with what Tony Blair said the other day in relation to men having penises and women having vaginas.”
I want to be crystal clear that if anyone has broken the rules, they should face the full force of the law
Rishi Sunak
But Sir Keir defended his stance back in 2021, insisting he was worried about the way in which the debate was being conducted because it “got very toxic, very divided, very hard line”.
On defence spending, Sir Keir insisted it had to be the priority of any Government and he would always make the money available.
But he refused to set a date for the extra cash, saying it would also go to the NHS and public services. Meanwhile, Mr Sunak revealed there could be sanctions if Brits did not sign up to his National Service plan.
The PM said: “You’ll have a set of sanctions, and incentives, and we will look at the models around Europe for the appropriate mix.”
Pressed for what he could introduce, Mr Sunak said: “There’s all sorts of things across Europe, whether that’s looking at driving licences, other access to finance, all sorts of other things.”
Today, Mr Sunak will echo a speech made by former Tory PM Sir John Major.
Mr Sunak will tell voters to look at the long-term consequences of Labour even if they are angry at the Tories — especially given the economy is showing signs of improvement.
Four days before his 1992 win, Sir John said: “You want to start recovery, stop Labour. If you want to stop recovery, start Labour.”
Mr Sunak is expected to say: “I know you are frustrated with our party, frustrated with me.
“But do not let Labour waltz into office without scrutinising them, without seeing what their policies would mean for our country and your family’s security. Do you really know what you are going to get with Labour?”
Meanwhile, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt yesterday told The Times CEO summit conceded the Tories would struggle to win.
Asked if his party could turn it round, he said: “It’s going to be tough. I don’t think any of us would pretend that is the most likely outcome.
“We can certainly do a lot better than polls are suggesting and we are working very hard to do so.”
A YouGov seat-by-seat poll on Wednesday showed a Labour majority of more than 200.
But a Redfield and Wilton survey yesterday had Labour on 42 per cent — leading Nigel Farage’s Reform by 23 per cent, with the Tories one point back on 22.
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said the Tories could still defy the polls.
He said: “I’d never ordinarily invite a comparison with Donald Trump, but Trump was given I think, an 11 per cent chance of winning in 2016 and did. Even a small chance is a chance.”
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves told bosses at The Times CEO summit the Budget would be at least ten weeks after the election — possibly in September. She also said independent schools should be able to “make efficiencies” if tax breaks were removed.
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DAVEY’S P.O. KO
LIB Dem leader Sir Ed Davey last night defended his refusal to meet campaigning sub-postmaster Alan Bates over the Horizon scandal.
Mr Davey, Post Office minister between 2010 and 2012, said when he did finally talk to Sir Alan he was fobbed off by management.
He said: “I took all his questions and asked my officials and the Post Office. They gave me a categorical assurance that the points Mr Bates was making were not true, that their system had been independently assured by IT.”
He also refused to rule out a coalition deal after the election.
And Sir Ed said his stunts on the campaign trail, including falling off a paddleboard and riding a rollercoaster, had a serious message.
Asked if his antics were prime ministerial, he replied: “People are really disillusioned. They think politicians don’t get them. And, yes, it’s been to grab their attention.”
