Why the betting saga matterspublished at 07:50 British Summer Time 26 June
Chris Mason
Political editor
Let us be clear - in all of the developments in recent days relating to alleged betting, there is a huge amount reporters don’t know.
In plenty of the alleged cases, we don’t know if there was indeed a bet, how much was bet, how many bets there were, precisely what was bet on, what the odds were, what the winnings were or, crucially, what the person placing the bet did or didn’t know about when the election would be.
What the revelations may help reveal, at least in part, is something about the judgement of those in senior roles, in office or seeking office.
For the party leaders in situations like this, they can find themselves prisoners of the alleged behaviour of others.
Imagine you were Rishi Sunak, or Keir Starmer. You’d be incandescent.
But you will also be judged by your response. The nature of it and the speed of it.