Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to clash in final live TV debate - LIVE
Rishi Sunak will be debating Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday evening.
The Prime Minister and the leader of the Labour party will have their last live TV debate on Wednesday evening before the upcoming election in just over a week.
Mr. Sunak is in urgent need of something to shake up the Tory election campaign and give it a boost.
The discussion will be moderated by BBC's Mishal Husain, who has promised to "stop" Mr Sunak and Mr Starmer if necessary.
Rishi Sunak Prime Minister Visit
We have about half an hour left until the last TV debate between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak starts.
Both party leaders have currently reached Nottingham.
Starmer In Nottingham Before Debate
Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party, greets Tim Davie, the Director-General of the BBC, upon his arrival at the Prime Ministerial Debate in Nottingham.
Labour Suspends Member For Honeytrap Arrest
Earlier today, it was reported that a Labour party member was suspended from the party following their arrest in north London.
Following the arrest of a man by the Met Police in relation to the Westminster "honeytrap" scandal, where MPs were sent explicit images and flirtatious messages from unknown WhatsApp accounts.
Labour was informed on Wednesday that a party member in Islington had been arrested and was subsequently suspended from the party membership.
The party mentioned that they are unable to provide any additional information at this time because of an ongoing police inquiry.
Discover additional information regarding the scandal by clicking on the link.
The scheme involved sending messages to people in political circles in an attempt to convince them to send inappropriate photos.
"Election Betting Scandal Sparks Debate"
The escalating disagreement in Westminster regarding wagers made on the General Election date is expected to be a major topic of discussion as Mr. Sunak and Sir Keir face off in tonight's BBC debate.
The Gambling Commission is looking into the betting activity of at least five members of the Conservative party in relation to bets placed on the date of the July 4 poll.
Cabinet minister Alister Jack has confessed to making wagers on the election date, but he is not under scrutiny by the regulator because he placed the bets earlier in the year, prior to the timeframe being examined by the watchdog in their investigation of possible insider trading.
Labour has also become involved in the controversy, suspending candidate Kevin Craig after an investigation by the regulator found that he placed bets on himself to not win his competition in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.
Sir Keir stated that his response to Mr. Craig demonstrated strong and decisive leadership, highlighting a clear difference from Rishi Sunak, who waited a significant amount of time before taking any action.
He informed the media: "The public is clearly aware that the activities within the Tory party, such as insider trading, are unethical."
Sunak Avoids Campaigning Before TV Appearance
Both Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Ed Davey organized election rallies today, whereas Prime Minister Rishi Sunak decided not to participate in campaign events before his scheduled appearance in tonight's leaders' TV debate.
The head of the Labour party went to a medical clinic in the area of Leicestershire North West, where the Conservative party currently holds a notional lead of 18,548 votes. To secure a victory in this seat, Labour would need a significant swing of 18.4 percentage points, making it the 234th priority on the party's list of targets.
Today, Sir Ed Davey went out to campaign in two key areas for his party: Chelmsford and Henley & Thame.
The Conservatives are protecting their perceived leads in these areas, with a margin of 15,416 and 11,901 votes.
The Liberal Democrats must increase their support by 14.4% in Chelmsford and 11.1% in Henley & Thame to improve their ranking on the list of party targets to 56th and 33rd respectively.
Who's Leading The Debate?
The discussion will be led by Mishal Husain from the BBC. She has promised to "stop" Mr. Sunak and Mr. Starmer if necessary.
She has overseen two seven-way leaders' debates in the past, once in 2017 and again earlier this month.
She received acclaim for her handling of the latest debate featuring Reform UK's Nigel Farage, Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt, Labour's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper, Stephen Flynn of the Scottish National Party, Carla Denyer of the Green Party, and Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru.
Find out more about her role as the debate moderator by clicking here.
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Anticipated Outcome Of Tonight's Debate
Important topics in the ongoing discussion may involve the controversy over election gambling, taxation, migration, governance, education, community support, as well as the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, and Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine.
Tonight's discussion will be shown on BBC One and BBC iPlayer starting at 8:15pm and ending at 9:30pm. It will also be available for listening on BBC Radio 4 at the same time.
Laura Kuenssberg and Clive Myrie, who are the hosts of the BBC's election night show, will be giving live commentary and opinions from the debate location between 9.30pm and 10pm.
