Rishi Sunak accused of failing to order probe into 17 potential breaches of ministerial code

Tory minister says MP who made election betting 'joke' has dry sense of humour

Rishi Sunak has been accused of eroding the public’s trust in politics by failing to order investigations into more than a dozen potential breaches of strict ethics rules during his time as prime minister.

The Liberal Democrats say he presided over 17 possible violations of the ministerial code in 18 months, none of which were referred to his ethics adviser.

The accusation comes as the Conservative’s election campaign is embroiled in a betting scandal.

The Westminster gambling row deepened late on Tuesday when a cabinet minister revealed he had placed bets on the date of the general election.

Scotland secretary Alister Jack denied he had broken any rules, but said he put three wagers on the timing of the July 4 poll, becoming the latest of seven politicians and officials to be drawn in to the controversy.

Earlier Sir Keir Starmer took aim at Rishi Sunak’s leadership ability over the betting scandal, accusing the prime minister of “failing to grasp the nettle” and take action quickly enough.

Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Lib Dems, who compiled the list, accused the Tory government of being “besieged by sleaze”.

“Their brazen disregard for the rules has torn up standards in public life and eroded trust in our political system,” she said.

And she said Mr Sunak had “proven himself too weak to take any action on the slew of Conservative scandals under his leadership”.

The Lib Dems say they would stamp out sleaze by enshrining the ministerial code in law and make the government’s ethics adviser fully independent, a move they say would stop ministers “marking their own homework”.

Cases cited by the Lib Dems include Rishi Sunak’s wife’s shares in a childcare company which could have benefited from a government scheme.

The party also pointed to cabinet minister Michelle Donelan’s use of £34,000 of taxpayers’ money to cover libel damages.

And that no action was taken over allegations against  Mark Menzies, who disputes claims he used thousands of pounds of party funds to pay off people who had locked him in a flat, before the story hit the headlines.

The Libs Dems say cases which warranted an investigation occurred almost once a month since the appointment of Mr Sunak’s Ethics Adviser in December 2022.

One of his predecessors, Boris Johnson, lost an ethics adviser in 2020 when Sir Alex Allan quit after he was overruled over a report into alleged bullying by the home secretary Priti Patel.

The Lib Dems say other potential breaches of the ministerial code included Nadhim Zahawi’s legal threats to campaigners and journalists, including this newspaper, over his tax affairs.

Ms Cooper said that the Conservatives had been “besieged by sleaze” and that her party’s plans would “end the cycle of scandals”.

The Conservatives have been approached for comment.