The SNP has reported Rishi Sunak over a potential breach of the ministerial code by accepting a £1,000 bet that he will ship vulnerable refugees to Rwanda before the next election.
In a letter to the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, Sir Laurie Magnus CBE, and Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, calling for an investigation, Kirsty Blackman MP said that “it is shameful and grotesque that Rishi Sunak, one of the richest men in the UK, is betting money on whether he can ship vulnerable refugees abroad in time for the election”.
The SNP’s Cabinet Office spokesperson added that it “appears to be a clear breach of the ministerial code and the Nolan Principles of Public Life” and “the bet falls below the high standards people should expect of those in public life – not least the most powerful person in Westminster.”
Commenting, the SNP’s Cabinet Office spokesperson, Kirsty Blackman MP said:
“Placing a bet on the lives of vulnerable refugees fleeing war and persecution is grotesque, callous and downright cruel – and shows just how out of touch Westminster is with the values of people in Scotland.
“It’s particularly shameful that Rishi Sunak, one of the richest men in the UK, thinks it’s appropriate to accept a £1,000 wager – and will remind ordinary working families that near billionaire Sunak doesn’t have a clue what life is like for the rest of us in a cost of living crisis.
“It also appears to be a clear breach of the ministerial code and the high standards that people should expect of those in public life – not least the most powerful person in Westminster.
“For Scotland, it shows Westminster has sunk to a new low and we would be better off escaping broken Brexit Britain and determining our own asylum policy with independence.”
