Sir Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of being “bullied” into taking action over the Westminster betting row as they faced off in their final televised head-to-head debate ahead of the General Election.

The two leaders traded barbs over the gambling debacle, taxation and immigration in the last major set piece event before polling day.

The recent allegations of political bets placed ahead of the July 4 contest were bound to feature heavily and the first audience question in the BBC debate challenged the duo to say how they would restore trust in politics, with people “dismayed by the lack of integrity and honesty”.

Sir Keir laid the blame at the Prime Minister’s door, saying “you have to lead from the front on issues like this” and linking the scandal to so-called partygate, when Mr Sunak was fined for busting lockdown rules. 

The Labour leader said: “What I did, when one of my team was alleged to have been involved and investigated by the Gambling Commission, they were suspended within minutes, because I knew it made it really important to be swift.

“The Prime Minister delayed and delayed and delayed until eventually he was bullied into taking action.”

Mr Sunak responded: “It was important to me that given the seriousness and the sensitivity of the matters at hand that they were dealt with properly, and that’s what I’ve done.”  By Sophie Wingate, The London Economic