INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Metropolitan police says at least 7 officers now under investigation over election timing betsThe number of Metropolitan police officers
under investigation over bets on the timing of the general election has risen to at least seven, the force has said.On Tuesday the Met said
The other five, who were not close protection officers, had not been arrested, but were being investigated by the Gambling Commission, it
said.ShareKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureEarly evening summaryWe will be starting a new live
blog later tonight to cover the Northern Ireland debate on BBC, starting at 9pm.View image in fullscreenKeir Starmer speaks during a general
election campaign event at the Vale Inn, in Bollington, Macclesfield, Cheshire, this afternoon
Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/ReutersShare3m people watched Sunak v Starmer, but twice as many watched Georgia v Portugal, figures revealJim
victory for the underdog attracted a peak of 6.4m viewers, as Georgia celebrated a historic victory.Televised debates have continued to
shape this election, even though their live audiences have been around 60% lower than when they were first introduced at the 2010
programmes.ShareFarage says he is 'dismayed' by 'reprehensible' comments by some of his campaign team in ClactonNigel Farage, the Reform UK
In a statement released ahead of publication of a story by Channel 4 News, he did not reveal what the offending words were
But he said:I am dismayed by the reported comments of a handful of people associated with my local campaign, particularly those who are
They will no longer be with the campaign.The appalling sentiments expressed by some in these exchanges bear no relation to my own views,
those of the vast majority of our supporters or Reform UK policy
Some of the language used was reprehensible.Reform UK is a party for everybody who believes in Britain
I am proud that our supporters, candidates and national campaign team come from all backgrounds and identities.I would be interested to know
whether Channel 4 is subjecting the grassroots volunteers of all the political parties to similar subterfuges, or whether Reform UK has been
of those areas where, depending on how you frame the question, you can get the polling to say whatever you want
I have not had time to research this properly
But More in Common do a lot of research on attitudes to cultural issues, like this one, and their work is always blanced and insightful
Here are three points made by their director, Luke Tryl, that are worth noting.1) There is evidence suggesting people think politicians talk
too much about trans rights, not too little.As well as asking people their top election issues we asked people this week if politicians were
talking too much or too little about those issues
Interestingly debates about transgender people were the only issue where more said it was talked about too much than too little.The worry
Labour - concerns about not doing a better job on cost of living were at the top.3) Allowing gender self-ID was the most unpopular of a
treated 2nd and 3rd Covid lockdowns 'with total contempt', implying he ignored rulesNigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, attracted a big
audience in Sunderland where he gave a speech announcing that the businessman and former Tory donor Sir John Hall is backing his party
(See 1.01pm.)Here are some of the other lines from what was a relatively long and wide-ranging speech
Farage has been delivering inflammatory, provocative oratory to rightwing audiences for at least a decade, and much of what he said will
have not have sounded surprising to anyone familiar with his record
But perhaps there was more of a Trump flavour to it than in the past, evident in his hubris (he boasted about having a better understanding
of foreign policy than anyone in government), in his contempt for the Conservative party (in the past he wanted to influence them; now he
actually believe the long-term economic and psychological damage from lockdowns two and three perhaps represents the biggest mistake any
last two lockdowns, I must be honest, with total contempt
Defending his recent claims about how the expansion of Nato and the EU provoked Russia to invade Ukraine, he said he was right
He said that conflict helped to create Islamic State
He went on:I would put myself up, on foreign policy, against any of these people
an international betting consortium
I mean, would you bet against your own team at football
More and more of them are being dragged in and it shows you their sense of arrogance and entitlement.As for the small boats, well, it was me
going out into the English Channel repeatedly in the spring of 2020 filming, explaining that unless we got a grip on this, that it would be
a huge problem.And I dared to use a word, a word so repulsive that it must never be repeated in polite society
across the English Channel
to supporters during a campaign event at Rainton Arena in Houghton-le-Spring
Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenFarage speaking at Rainton Arena
Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty ImagesShareBadenoch claims Labour's plans to monitor ethnic pay disparities like 'apartheid South Africa' and
'morally repellent'Peter WalkerKemi Badenoch has explicitly compared Labour plans to introduce monitoring over ethnic pay disparities to
combative speech, speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London, the business secretary also likened the plans to
rates of pay for people of different ethnicities
The policy extends existing protections about pay on gender grounds to ethnicity and introduces reporting on disability and ethnicity pay
gaps for large employers.It does not say pay should be based on ethnicity
The idea of an ethnicity pay gap reporting was also proposed by Theresa May in 2018.In her speech, Badenoch claimed that Labour would be
old/young, because they see people as target groups not as individuals, and they see you as greedy exploiters not wealth creators.I think
classifying your workforce by race and having this influence their salaries is morally repellent
We should not be going anywhere near this stuff.Badenoch is a vocal opponent of policies based on structural inequalities, an idea she has
dismissed repeatedly.View image in fullscreenKemi Badenoch
Photograph: Tayfun Salc?/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/ShutterstockShareRishi Sunak has suggested that just 150,000 voters could be enough to stop the
Conservatives losing by a landslide.As the Telegraph reports, Sunak made the comment in an interview with GB News being broadcast tonight
difference.ShareRishi Sunak, Keir Starmer and Ed Davey have all been doing pottery-related campaign events today.View image in
fullscreenRishi Sunak glazing pottery during a visit to Denby Pottery Factory today
Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenKeir Starmer speaking to celebrity potter Keith Brymer Jones during his
visit to Duchess China in Longton near Stoke On Trent
Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PAView image in fullscreenEd Davey painting pottry at Vale House in Marpley
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesShareReform UK drops candidate revealed to have been BNP memberA Reform UK general election candidate has
been dropped after it emerged that he had been on a list of members of the British National party (BNP), Ben Quinn reports.ShareSteve Baker,
the Northern Ireland minister, will stand for next Tory leader if he remains an MP after the election, HuffPost UK reports.In his story,
Kevin Schofield says Baker dropped hints about standing in a speech last month
after the referendum, in Covid and in relation to the cost of Net Zero
We will see.Baker is seeking re-election in Wycombe, where he had a majority of just 4,214 in 2019
According to the latest YouGov MRP poll, Labour is on course to win the seat easily, beating Baker by 42% to 22%.Baker spent the first few
days of the election campaign on holiday in Greece.ShareSunak refuses to say if he told Craig Williams in advance about election date,
saying it would be wrong to 'compromise' inquiryRishi Sunak has declined to say whether he told Craig Williams, his parliamentary aide, in
advance about his decision to hold the general election in July.Williams placed a bet on July three days before the surprise announcement
He has now been disowned by the Tories as a candidate, and is being investigated by the Gambling Commission
He says he made an error of judgment, but he claims he did not commit an offence.During a visit to Derbyshire, asked repeatedly if he told
Williams in advance about the election date, Sunak said he could not answer because he might compromise the inquiry.When it was put to him
public domain.View image in fullscreenRishi Sunak in Ripley today
Photograph: Joe Giddens/PAShare
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
