The gambling scandal is a clear sign of the political talent drought

Nothing shocks me anymore when it comes to MPs behaving badly.

It is a damning indictment on the state of our politics that the public is not more surprised about gamblegate.

So far we have six police officers and up to 15 Tory candidates and officials are embroiled in an ongoing enquiry regarding their involvement in placing bets on the date of the General Election.

I barely raised an eyebrow when I first heard of the allegations against members the Tory Party, because this is exactly the kind of sleaze and questionable behaviour I have come to expect of our government.

Just like millions of other Britons, nothing shocks me anymore when it comes to MPs behaving badly.

Whether it’s partygate, PPE contracts going to Tory mates, or MPs like Chris Pincher being promoted despite sexual assault warnings, there is always a skeleton or two waiting to come out the closet.

I’m not sure what kind of defence those accused of placing bets on the General Election date will mount. It all seems highly suspicious that they just happened to guess correctly days before the wider population were told.

After initially dragging his feet to take action against his own people, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suspended his closest parliamentary aide Craig Williams after he’d admitted to placing a bet. Laura Saunders – standing for the Tories – has also been suspended.

But, for me, these actions of the PM came too little too late.

At a time when faith and trust in most politicians is at an all-time low, this latest drama and Sunak’s reluctance to act swiftly will only compound the feeling of despondence among voters.

The fact that six Metropolitan police officers are also under investigation by the Gambling Commission will add further fuel to the argument that the force is not fit for purpose. How many times will Sir Mark Rowley say the problem is a ‘few bad apples’? We’re at a point now where most of us can see the issue is with the whole orchard.

Things are not looking much better for the opposition either, as Labour have been fighting their own gambling battle. Labour candidate Kevin Craig is under investigation by the Gambling Commission for his own betting activity – but unlike Sunak, Keir Starmer immediately suspended him. 

Quite worryingly, it is said that he placed a bet, not on the election date, but that he would lose his race at the General Election.

Now, while some may say that Craig’s gamble is not as serious or as bad as the accused Tories, I’d say it’s on a pretty equal footing. Why on earth do we have a so-called politician betting against themselves?

If Craig was so sure he wouldn’t win his seat, why bother entering in the first place? He should have given his seat to a more deserving candidate, to someone who believed they could do it.

This complete lack of confidence in his own ability to successfully campaign once again displays the drought of political talent we have today.

In my opinion, MPs and those who work in politics should not be able to place bets on anything remotely political. Let us make the rules clear and concise so that going forward anyone caught placing a bet can be expelled from politics altogether.

Professional Premier League footballers are banned from gambling on games – even matches which they or their team are not involved in are still not permitted. And if they are found to have placed a bet on a game they are routinely suspended – sometimes even banned for life.

Recently, England and Brentford striker Ivan Toney was suspended for eight months for betting offences, because he clearly breached and broke the rules. Why can’t our politicians face the same scrutiny?

As it stands, our two main parties have let us down yet again with their morally low standards. So who benefits from this the most? Nigel Farage and The Reform party.

For me, it is hard to see a difference between Labour and Conservatives, especially when they both have candidates acting in similarly feckless ways. So when Farage offers the country a very different option, I will not be surprised at all with people choosing a radical alternative.

What Sunak and Starmer have shown us is that some of their politicians cannot be trusted to simply do their job. Placing a bet on yourself to lose, or using privileged knowledge to make a few extra quid is not what we – the public – expect from the people we elect.

Which is why the biggest loser from gamblegate is us.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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