![Sunak, Starmer clash in final TV debate before election](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/a9/7b/48/Sunak--Starmer-clash-in-final-TV-de-306144.jpg)
-
Missing Wimbledon would not have been 'correct', says Djokovic
-
Russell plans to 'sneak through' front two in Austria
-
Kohli leads the way as India set SA 177 to win
-
France's Bardet wins Tour de France opener as Cavendish suffers
-
Imperious Verstappen takes pole for Austrian Grand Prix
-
Top seed Fritz wins third Eastbourne ATP title
-
Bagnaia turns the heat up on MotoGP leader Martin
-
Cheers and prayers in India as T20 World Cup cricket final begins
-
Attacker with crossbow killed outside Israeli embassy in Belgrade, officer wounded
-
Haiti PM visits US, to meet with White House official
-
India win toss and bat in T20 World Cup final
-
Second-time lucky for Kasatkina as she wins Eastbourne WTA final
-
Heptathlon world champion Johnson-Thompson allays Olympic fitness worries
-
Zverev says 'most open Wimbledon in 20 years'
-
Sabalenka 'not 100%' certain for Wimbledon due to 'rare' injury
-
Fighting for third day in north Gaza as thousands displaced
-
'We have already won the Euros', says Georgia coach Sagnol
-
Manchester United's Earps latest to leave WSL club
-
Tense France goes to polls as far-right scents power
-
Mauvaka rewarded with Toulouse contract extension
-
Reformist to face ultraconservative in Iran presidency runoff
-
Verstappen resists Norris attack to win Austrian GP sprint race
-
Afghan women's rights an internal issue, Taliban govt says before UN-led talks
-
Pogacar favourite as Tour de France sets off from Florence
-
Clashes, arrests mark start of German far-right AfD congress
-
Five IS bombs found hidden in iconic Iraq mosque: UN agency
-
Mongolia ruling party wins reduced majority in vote dominated by graft
-
'Revolutionary' Dupont turns focus to Olympics after record Top 14 success
-
Panamanian court acquits 28 defendants in 'Panama Papers' trial
-
Fans pray for India's elusive world cricket trophy
-
Reformist, ultraconservative lead Iran presidential vote
-
Biden takes stage with Elton John to celebrate LGBTQ milestone
-
Legal weed limps into next phase in Germany
-
Vietnam economy expands 6.4 percent in first half of year
-
Thompson, Jackson win 100m titles at Jamaican Olympic trials
-
Holloway makes Olympics with 110 hurdles win as Lyles, Richardson roll on
-
Mauritania heads to polls with incumbent tipped to win
-
Planting giant cactus to stave off desertification in Brazil
-
Protests expected at German far-right AfD congress
-
Far right scents power as tense France ready for snap vote
-
Suspected leaders of failed Bolivian coup remanded in custody
-
Biden, Trump battle for blue-collar voters as steel merger looms
-
Biles one step closer to Paris with day one US gymnastics trials lead
-
Union says Boeing penny-pinching has hurt supply chain
-
US, allies condemn N.Korea for sanctions-busting arms sales to Russia
-
Colombia into Copa quarters after Costa Rica romp
-
England's Rai and USA's Bhatia share PGA Detroit lead
-
Danes shoot 60 to join five-way tie for LPGA pairs lead
-
Messi to miss Argentina-Peru Copa clash: team
-
Global stocks mixed as elections heat up
![Sunak, Starmer clash in final TV debate before election](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/a9/7b/48/Sunak--Starmer-clash-in-final-TV-de-306144.jpg)
Sunak, Starmer clash in final TV debate before election
The two men bidding to be British prime minister faced off late on Wednesday in the last head-to-head TV debate before the country's general election next week.
With Keir Starmer's Labour opposition enjoying a huge poll lead, the verbal tussle in Nottingham in central England was Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's last big opportunity to give his Conservatives a fighting chance on July 4.
Early sparring focused on a betting scandal that has ensnared several senior Tories and a Labour candidate, and overshadowed talk about key policies in the campaign's final days.
"The thing that I would like to do if I'm elected prime minister is to reset politics, so that politics returns to public service," said Starmer, who accused Sunak of showing a lack of leadership over the furore.
Sunak, who promised to restore "integrity, professionalism and accountability" when he was named Tory leader and prime minister in 2022, said he had been "furious" when he learned about the allegations.
"I've been crystal clear: anyone who has broken the rules should not only face the full consequences of the law, I will ensure that they're booted out of the Conservative Party," he added.
Labour has been more than 20 points ahead in surveys for over 18 months, as Britons appear weary of 14 years of Tory rule dominated by austerity, Brexit and infighting.
Sunak has failed to reduce the deficit since he surprised the country, and many in his own party, by calling the election on May 22, six months earlier than legally required.
His rain-sodden announcement outside Downing Street was an ominous portent of what was to come.
The Tory leader has since run a lacklustre campaign featuring blunders, and caused uproar for skipping the main D-Day anniversary with other world leaders in northern France.
He has been criticised for belatedly taking action over the betting row, which this week saw the Conservatives withdraw support from two candidates being probed by the Gambling Commission regulator over bets they allegedly placed on the timing of the election.
One, Craig Williams, who served as Sunak's close aide during the last parliament, is alleged to have staked £100 ($127) on a July date for the election three days before Sunak called the vote.
The other, Laura Saunders, is married to the Tories' director of campaigns, who took a leave of absence from the campaign following the allegations.
The party's chief data officer also stepped back from duties over allegations he placed dozens of bets on the election date.
- 'Change' -
Separately, Labour suspended a candidate after he bet on himself losing the election, while five police officers are also being investigated.
The regulator is thought to be looking into whether anyone had privileged information when they placed their bets.
Such flutters are allowed in the UK but using insider knowledge to make them is against the law.
The tawdry row has summed up an underwhelming campaign that has failed to galvanise a lot of Brits, with polls suggesting that a good chunk of the electorate made up their minds months ago.
Labour's lead over the Tories increased hugely in October 2022, when former Prime Minister Liz Truss spooked markets and tanked the pound with billions of pounds of unfunded tax cuts.
Voters were already showing signs of becoming fed up with the Tories following the "Partygate" scandal over Downing Street parties during Covid lockdowns which precipitated ex-premier Boris Johnson's fall from power.
Sunak has made a number of headline-grabbing announcements during the campaign, such as national service for teenagers, but they have failed to move the polls.
Arch-Eurosceptic Nigel Farage's decision to run for the hard-right Reform UK party has also made his job more difficult.
Starmer, in contrast, has played it safe as he tries to preserve Labour's lead and return the party to power for the first time since 2010.
He has stopped short of announcing new policies, instead trying to reassure voters that Labour will responsibly marshal the economy and repeating his mantra that Britain is crying out for "change".
Despite the poll lead, Labour still requires a record swing to win a majority of one, owing to the Conservatives' landslide win under Johnson at the 2019 election.
E.Raimundo--PC