Fourth Tory investigated over betting scandal ‘who placed dozens of bets’

Bridget Phillipson said the bar was pretty low in the 2019 general election and Jeremy Corbyn was “not a great choice” for prime minister, Archie Mitchell reports.

She was pressed over Sir Keir Starmer’s claim that the left-winger would have made a better leader than Boris Johnson.

The shadow education secretary told the BBC: “I didn’t think Jeremy Corbyn was ever going to win.

“And that was very, very clear on the doorstep. Let’s be honest, it wasn’t a great choice and it certainly wasn’t a great choice that Labour put forward in 2019.”

She added: “The difference now, however, is that Keir Starmer has got what it takes to be a brilliant prime minister of our country, and to turn the page on the years and years of Tory chaos and division.”

James Cleverly said it was “disappointing and frustrating” that 900 people arrived in the UK by small boat on Tuesday.

He was asked why voters should trust his claim that the government’s Rwanda plan would work as an effective deterrent to illegal migration.

The home secretary told the BBC: “There’s always a whole load of complicated factors. What we saw in the weeks leading up to those figures – and they are disappointing and frustrating figures – an extended period of good weather, where almost no one came across the Channel.”

“If you’re going to report the bad days you should also report the good days,” he added.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said a Labour government would take steps to strengthen women-only spaces, Archie Mitchell reports.

Asked if a biological woman would know for sure that she would not have to share any spaces with a person who is not biologically a woman, Ms Phillipson told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “Yes, because the Equality Act allows for that.

“We will also make sure that there is strengthened guidance that sets out the position so that service providers can have absolute confidence in the delivery of services.

“I do believe in the importance of single-sex provision, but I also believe that trans people have the right to appropriate care as well. I don’t think it is about one or the other.”

Ms Phillipson said “statutory guidance” would be set out by a Labour government.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said a Labour victory is “not a done deal” as she accused the Conservatives of pursuing a “voter suppression” strategy, Archie Mitchell reports.

Ms Phillipson told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “People shouldn’t look at the polls and think this is a done deal.

“If people want change, if they want to turn the corner on 14 years of failure, then they’ve got to get out and vote Labour on July 4.”

Ms Phillipson later said: “I’ve been across the country, there’s a lot of people that have still not made up their minds in this election and in those seats a couple of hundred votes will be the difference between a Labour government or five more years of the Conservatives.”

She added: “What the Tories are doing – very, very cynically – is a voter suppression strategy. They want people to think this is all in the bag, don’t worry about it, you don’t need to come out and vote.

“Worse than that, I think it’s an attempt to distract from their manifesto, which if they got the chance to implement that would crash the economy just like Liz Truss did.”

Responding to the reports that James Sunderland called the Rwanda scheme “crap’” Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: “The Rwanda policy is an immoral, costly gimmick and everyone, including top Conservatives, knows it.

“Rishi Sunak has poured hundreds of millions into his failing vanity project – it’s a disastrous waste of money.

“Liberal Democrats would smash these gangs putting lives at risk and fix our immigration system.”

James Cleverly appeared not to deny for a second time that he used the word “bats***” to describe the government’s Rwanda plan.

As we reported a little earlier, the home secretary for the first time denied claims he called Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation scheme “bats***” in an interview with Sky News.

The home secretary has previously refused to deny he used the slur to describe the PM’s plan to send asylum seekers to the east African nation.

When pressed by the BBC about the comment, he said: “What I’ve said…I’ve said this before, this is not new – I said this in an interview, I think, within days of being appointed that my frustration – and if I have used intemperate language is because my frustration, was that, I think, as a government we spoke exclusively about one policy and didn’t speak about all the other things like immigration enforcement, who send dozens of people every single week – sometimes hundreds – deported, who have no right to be here, we didn’t talk about that, which is perhaps why Yvette Cooper is thinking about having this new – allegedly new – returns unit, which is exactly what immigration enforcement already does, and a border command which is exactly what the small boats operation…”

James Cleverly is now being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC.

He repeats his claim that James Sunderland was trying to grab the attention of the audience by saying the Rwanda plan was “crap”.

Mr Cleverly says that, when people listen to the clip in full, they will realise his aide is supportive of the Rwanda policy because of its deterrent effect.

James Cleverly has said he would not defend any Tories found to have placed bets on the election date.

The home secretary told Sky News: “I’m not in any way going to defend people who placed bets on that.

“There is an investigation by the Gambling Commission and we have been told very, very clearly that we are not to discuss the investigations.”

He said that “my understanding is that it is a small number of individuals” involved.

Asked if any Cabinet ministers were involved, he said: “I’ve got no reason to believe any of them were, at all.”

Asked why Rishi Sunak was not sacking anyone who admitted placing a bet, Mr Cleverly said it was a matter for the Gambling Commission to investigate.

James Cleverly has refused to deny that members of Rishi Sunak’s cabinet bet on the election date before it was announced, Archie Mitchell reports.

The home secretary said he has “no reason to believe” any of his cabinet colleagues were involved.

And he said the Gambling Commission has made it clear the Tories are not supposed to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Mr Cleverly stressed that is was “a small number of people” who were involved, and he was “not defending the actions”.

James Cleverly has for the first time denied claims he called Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation scheme “bats***”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The home secretary has previously refused to deny he used the slur to describe the PM’s plan to send asylum seekers to the east African nation.

But, after it emerged a senior aide to Mr Cleverly had described the scheme as “crap”, the home secretary denied for the first time having made the comment.

Asked by Sky News whether he described the plan as “bats***”, Mr Cleverly said: “No.”

“This is what Yvette Cooper has alleged that I said… she has never given any indication of where I said it or who I said it to,” Mr Cleverly added.