Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has rejected calls for politicians to be banned from betting on politics, arguing that the gambling scandal was about behaviour rather than the rules.

Speaking to BBC News, he says: "I don't think this is about changing the rules on betting. I think the rules are clear enough, it's about the behaviour of politicians and it's about the behaviour of leaders when things come to light.

"I said if any of my candidates were being investigated by the Gambling Commission they'd be out of the door and their feet wouldn't touch the ground and that's what you saw yesterday.

"Contrast that with the prime minister who took days and days and days to make a decision it was obvious he should have taken in the first place."

Asked why he didn't believe a ban should be introduced, he adds: "Because I think in a case like this you can see why the Tories want to take this debate to should the rules change, because that takes the focus away from the real issue which is the behaviour of politicians."

Asked about his own betting habits, he says: "I have never placed a political bet - I only bet on the horses.”

Image source, PA

Back to Scotland where the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats admits he's placed bets on some contests in the general election.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, who is a Member of the Scottish Parliament, was being asked about betting following Scottish Secretary Alister Jack's admission that he placed three bets on the date of the election.

Cole-Hamilton said "lots of us who follow politics closely will occasionally take a flutter.

"I have placed small bets on a couple of races around the country for this election to show confidence in my friends."

Alister Jack says he has not breached any rules.

The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party has said his party is “in the hunt” to return to the House of Commons, as he launched the UUP’s election manifesto.

It was the biggest party in Northern Ireland for almost a century but has not had any MPs since 2017.

Party leader Doug Beattie said the UUP were in contention in at least four of the 18 constituencies in Northern Ireland.

The UUP’s best chance is thought to be in South Antrim where the former Northern Ireland Health Minister, Robin Swann, is hoping to take the seat from the Democratic Unionist Party.

The party's manifesto includes measures designed to strengthen Northern Ireland’s place in the UK and to grow the tourism industry – by lobbying for VAT on leisure and hospitality to be reduced to the same level as in the Republic of Ireland.

There is also a strong focus on defence.

Beattie, a former soldier, said Northern Ireland should be given an enhanced role to protect the UK's western approaches - including the establishment of a naval base.

• You can find a full list of the candidates standing at the general election in South Antrim here.

Image source, ITV/Reuters

To Scotland now, where the Scottish National Party's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has been asked if he has placed a bet on the election - to which he replied “no”.

Flynn added he was not aware of any SNP candidate under investigation over election betting.

He said the allegations and suspension of candidates is a big concern and it is very disappointing, adding that if there needs to be a tightening of rules then that is something he would support.

Flynn is campaigning in the new constituency of Gordon and Buchan and a full list of candidates can be found here.

Image source, PA Me

As we've been reporting throughout the campaign, Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 is conducting a series of election interviews with the main party leaders.

Today's was with the Liberal Democrats' women and equalities spokeswoman Christine Jardine - taking the place of party leader Sir Ed Davey.

She spoke about her party's manifesto commitment to enforce safe access zones around abortion clinics - something allowed for under legislation passed last year - saying anyone going through a traumatic medical procedure deserves some privacy.

She was also asked if Davey is a man of his word. It's put to her that, as a member of the 2010-15 coalition government with the Conservatives he voted to increase tuition fees, despite his party saying it would scrap them.

Jardine acknowledges that was a "mistake" and they had promised something they couldn't deliver.

You can listen to Woman's Hour's election coverage here.

Image source, PA Media

Labour's Liz Kendall has told the BBC it was right the party took action over a Labour candidate who bet he would lose his bid to be elected on 4 July.

When pressed by Nick Robinson on the Today programme whether the Labour Party would stop politicians taking bets, the shadow work and pensions secretary said: "If there are rules, politicians should abide by them.

"And if you're a leader and someone's breaking the rules or alleged to be breaking the rules, you act.

"That's what Keir has done."

We're just hearing that four men who were arrested at Rishi Sunak's constituency home have been released on bail.

Yesterday, we reported that the group were detained at the prime minister's house in the village of Kirby Sigston, North Yorkshire, on Tuesday afternoon.

They were escorted off the property and arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

North Yorkshire Police said a 52-year-old from London, a 43-year-old from Bolton, a 21-year-old from Manchester, and a 20-year-old from Chichester, West Sussex, have been released on conditional police bail and “the investigation remains ongoing”.

Meanwhile, the Conservative campaign bus is en route to the East Midlands where Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer was earlier this week.

Today the journalists on board – from broadcast and print – are following Home Secretary James Cleverly (although he’s not on board with us).

The prime minister is usually the person we get to see out and about on the national campaign trail but it’s understood today Rishi Sunak, amongst other things, is prepping for tonight’s BBC head-to-head with Starmer.

It has the potential to be a big moment where the PM will no doubt be hoping to press his policy agenda while trying to land attacks on Labour.

But as betting allegations continue to dominate the headlines, this isn’t the backdrop that either leader would have expected with a week to go until polling day.

Ed Davey has defended his decision to place a bet on how well the Lib Dems would perform in the 2010 election, saying he'd been excited in the run up to the vote, thinking the party would get more seats.

He doesn't usually bet, he says, but he bet on that occasion and lost.

He says people who get involved in football, or sport, or politics, get involved in many ways.

Davey draws a distinction between what he describes as "having a flutter" and those accused of having inside knowledge before placing bets.

Asked whether he regrets the bet, he says that many people inside and outside of politics have the odd flutter.

The key, he says, is whether you know what is going on.

Ed Davey has told the BBC that he placed a bet on the outcome of the 2010 election.

The Lib Dem leader says he "had a flutter" on how well his party would do but lost the bet.

Ed Davey has called for an urgent review into the regulations around politics and gambling.

The Lib Dem leader - who is campaigning in Essex - says that he is "as shocked as anyone else" by recent developments and that "a review of all gambling regulations with respect to politics after this election".

A few more lines to bring you from Mel Stride's morning interviews.

A close ally of Rishi Sunak, the work and pensions secretary tells Times Radio the betting row has been "deeply disappointing" at a time when the focus should be on what a potential Labour government would do to the country.

Stride also says he doesn't know the scale of the Gambling Commission's investigation, following BBC Newsnight reports that 15 Conservative candidates and officials were being looked at by the regulator.

He tells LBC Radio: "I don't know what the number is, what the number may or may not end up as, or indeed which parties may be involved".

Image source, EPA

A little earlier we reported on remarks from Conservative Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride where he defended Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's handling of the unfolding betting scandal.

There's something else that jumps out from Stride's comments when speaking to the media this morning - he says he doesn't believe politicians should be betting on such things, and suggested a ban should be considered.

Asked on Times Radio if it should be banned, he says: “Quite possibly and I think we do need to have a debate about it.”

Although Stride says there are “all sorts of different variations of gambling around politics”, he adds:

This evening, the BBC will host the final Sunak-Starmer showdown before polling day.

I’ve done two seven-way leaders’ debates before, in 2017 and earlier this month. Each time there are different complexities, and while you prepare by honing your knowledge of each party’s key policies - and their points of difference - you also want spontaneity and energy.

The live audiences are chosen by the pollsters Savanta, not the BBC, and for this Prime Ministerial Debate they’ll include Conservative and Labour supporters as well as undecided voters.

We will say this at the beginning of the programme, for maximum transparency, and also explain why the two men are standing where they are and the order in which they will deliver their closing thoughts. Spoiler - it’s a coin toss.

Once we’re into the flow, the debate will run straight through, for an hour and a quarter. Where necessary, I will be nudging the two men back to what was in the question, clarifying points, and yes, probably having to call a halt from time to time.

The debate is taking place at 20:15 BST. You can watch it live on BBC One, iPlayer and by pressing watch live at the top of the page. We will bring you all the updates live, and in the meantime you can read more on Mishal's tactics here.

Let's step away from the betting scandal for a moment and remind you of some of the key dates and times of this general election.

If you want to apply for someone to vote on your behalf at the 4 July general election, external in England, Scotland and Wales then you need to get it in by 17:00 BST today.

The deadline for a proxy vote in Northern Ireland has passed, but you can apply for an emergency proxy vote , externaluntil 17:00 today.

This is the first general election where you will need to show a valid form of ID before enter the polling booth.

If you don't have one - the list of what is accepted can be found here, external - then you need to apply for a voter authority certificate, external in England, Scotland and Wales by 17:00 today.

If after the deadline you realise you don't have valid ID, you can still apply for an emergency proxy vote up until 17:00 on polling day.

Today at 23:59 is the deadline to apply for an electoral identity card , externalin Northern Ireland.

For more info, see the BBC's handy explainer here.

The Work and Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride has defended the prime minister's handling of the gambling scandal, insisting he took "very decisive action" against two candidates being looked into by the Gambling Commission.

Speaking to the Today programme, he says: "In the event that the commission does decide that rules have been broken, they will be expelled from the Conservative Party. So we will have no truck with any of this."

Yesterday, the Conservatives withdrew support from two of their candidates, Laura Saunders and Craig Williams, almost two weeks after Williams, a close aide to Rishi Sunak, admitted placing a bet on the election date.

Mel Stride rejects suggestions that the prime minister has been "muddling through" and says it takes time to get the facts.

He says it isn't unreasonable for inquiries to be held when allegations emerged.

Stride defended the Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack, who, he says, has not broken the rules in placing bets earlier in the year.

The Work and Pensions Secretary says he didn't bet on anything - "I'm rather boring".

His Labour shadow, Liz Kendall says Sir Keir Starmer took clear action after the Gambling Commission said it was looking at one of the party's candidates.

She tells Today: "I think the public want politicians to abide by the rules just as they have to. We're not against gambling but it must be done within the rules."

The Conservatives are fighting a highly-defensive general election campaign, with Rishi Sunak visiting areas his party has won comfortably in the past, BBC analysis shows.

The prime minister has campaigned in constituencies where the Tories won big in the last election, with notional majorities of more than 20,000.

In recent days, they have included Grantham and Bourne (22,393 or 46% of votes cast) and Torridge and Tavistock (22,899 or 42%).

The Labour and Liberal Democrat leaders have also campaigned in areas where the Conservatives won in 2019 - again often by a sizeable margin.

Leaders visit areas for a range of reasons - but campaign visits are a strong indication of where the parties believe they should be focusing their attention.

The BBC has collated the movements of the three leaders since the start of the year, which you can read here.

Image source, .

A former Gambling Commission worker has told the BBC that "the simple thing is not to put yourself in the position" of betting on politics-related things if you work in the government and decisions are made around you.

Speaking to the BBC's Nick Robinson on the Today programme, Neil Luke is asked if the betting is legally wrong or just morally wrong. Luke, who now runs a gambling compliance consultancy, says: "That's what the intelligence unit will be trying to figure out at the moment, the highest level of offence will be manipulating the offence."

Giving an example in relation to the Labour candidate accused of betting against himself losing, he adds: "If you're an England fan and you bet on the opposing team you could argue you are covering all angles - happy if they win happy, if they lose.

"But you know if you play on the England team and do that, do you have the same intention to win and there's definitely the potential for you to throw the game."

Politicians betting on politics: A scandal that growspublished at 08:06 26 June

08:06 26 June

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Two weeks into the gambling scandal and it just grows and grows.

It’s worth noting that there are now a couple of fairly distinct categories of allegations.

First, there’s the allegations against at least five Conservatives as well as officers of the Metropolitan Police that they bet on the election date in the knowledge that it would be in July. Essentially, that they bet on a dead cert when the bookmaker did not know it was a dead cert. The Gambling Commission is investigating.

Yesterday there were some slightly different allegations. Kevin Craig, a Labour candidate, was suspended by the party when it became apparent that the Gambling Commission was looking at him too - albeit over a different kind of bet, one on the outcome in his constituency. This is different because, though he may have a better sense than most others about how the seat would vote, no election result can be a dead cert.

Then there’s Alister Jack, the Scottish Secretary, who insists that he had no inside information when he placed a trio of bets - one successful, two unsuccessful - on the election date.

The common theme here is politicians betting on politics. If this saga continues to sprawl, it may be that party leaders feel pressure to propose new clampdowns on politicians’ ability to gamble, whatever ends up happening to the individual Gambling Commission investigations.

Today’s front pages focus on the growing election date betting scandal and the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange (read our coverage of that story here).

“Cabinet minister claimed he won £2k on election bet” headlines the Daily Telegraph as it reports on the BBC’s story that Scottish Secretary Alister Jack told us he had placed a successful bet that the election date would fall between July and September.

Jack says he has not breached any rules and is not being investigated by the Gambling Commission.

The Times writes “Labour man suspended for betting on election” as it focuses on Labour suspending candidate Kevin Craig who bet he would lose his bid to become an MP. He says he made a “stupid error”.