TWO Tory ministers have been accused of “bad taste” after betting on the outcome of the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal.
No-Deal Brexit minister Michael Gove gambled “a good bottle of wine” against Health Secretary Matt Hancock that it would pass by three votes.
The Sun revealed the bet, which would see Hancock win if another a new vote on the proposals passed with any other margin.
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A source close to the West Suffolk Tory MP told the paper: “No representative of Newmarket is going to turn down evens odds on that.”
However, the SNP hit out at the bet, saying it was in poor taste.
An SNP source told The National: “It’s in pretty bad taste that Tory ministers are trading bets on fancy bottles of wine over Brexit – although it’s nothing compared to how they’re gambling with Scotland’s future.”
In 2000, the Westminster Standards Committee censured Scottish Labour MP Frank Roy for betting on the outcome of the election of the House of Commons speaker.
The committee said: “Betting by members on the outcome of any parliamentary business brings discredit on the House.”
Gove and Hancock’s deal would not break this standard, being a personal stake between two MPs.
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