FLUTTER SHAMBLES

Scottish Secretary claims he placed bet | PM 'too slow to act' on axeing candidates

- PETER DAVIDSON and ANDREW QUINN

ALISTER Jack became the latest Tory to be dragged into the election betting scandal after allegedly claiming he won £2100 predicting the date.

The Scottish Secretary, who is standing down at the election, told the BBC he had a flutter on June and July dates for the vote.

But in a statement released yesterday, Jack, who has represented the Dumfries and Galloway constituency since 2017, said he "did not place any bets on the date of the election during May".

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the date of the General Election on the steps of Downing Street on May 22.

Jack said in a statement: "I am very clear that I have never, on any occasion, broken any Gambling Commission rules. I did not place any bets on the date of the General Election during May - the period under investigation by the Gambling Commission.

"Furthermore, I am not aware of any family or friends placing bets. I have nothing more to say on this matter."

Jack has claimed one of the bets placed on the election was at odds of 25/1. During an interview with the BBC last week he said the comments were "a joke".

It comes as Rishi Sunak has been branded "too slow to act" after he was forced to ditch two Tory candidates over the betting scandal yesterday.

The Prime Minister has come under mounting pressure to take a tougher stance on the alleged use of inside information to bet on the timing of the July 4 poll.

In a sign of the wider scope of the Gambling Commission's investigation, the watchdog passed information to the Metropolitan Police alleging that five more officers had placed bets related to the timing of the poll.

The row has overshadowed the Tory election campaign in recent days as Sunak battles to close his party's 21-point average poll deficit to Labour.