UK Betting Scandal Widens - MPs, Police Make Illegal Bets

**Moderator**

An election betting scandal at the top levels of the UK government has over-shadowed the upcoming elections and dominated headlines in Great Britain for over a week. Several MPs, which are like congress members in the USA, as well as the prime minister's police security detail, have been "arrested" and investigated for placing bets with insider knowledge, which is illegal in the UK.

How did the election betting scandal happen?
TL;DR In the UK, the prime minister, currently Rishi Sunak of the Tory conservative party, decides when the election will be held. His decision for a July election was a shock to most of the country and the world. But not everyone, as some people in the prime minister's inner circle knew of the date and some members of the security detail overheard the details. They then allegedly placed winning bets on the election date which is illegal and are now being investigated by the UK gambling commission and the Met police force.

Dozens of MPs and police officers are currently being investigated and the scandal has widen to include bets placed as far back as 2010. Rishi Sunak has suspended the MPs who were arrested or under investigation after pressure from his rival, Keir Starmer of the Labour party. The scandal grows daily as more MPs are found to have placed illegal bets while others confess about their own past election bets or "flutters" and claim they were not illegal.

On the 27th of June the Met announced 7 police officers have been arrested and are under investigation for placing illegal bets. A Welsh Tory has now admitted betting over 8000 pounds on losing his seat. This betting scandal has become a political tsunami and some in both parties are now calling for all proposition betting by MPs to be outlawed. Sounds like a good plan.

Read more about the betting scandal here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cl44y6252d3o