UK PM Rishi Sunak orders probe into tax scandal-hit Tory chief Nadhim Zahawi

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday ordered an unbiased investigation into the tax affairs of scandal-hit Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi amid mounting strain from the Opposition.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday ordered an unbiased investigation into the tax affairs of scandal-hit Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi.

By Press Trust of India: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday ordered an unbiased investigation into the tax affairs of scandal-hit Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi amid mounting strain from the Opposition.

After days of headlines over the Iraqi-born minister with out portfolio in his Cabinet’s alleged penalty settlement with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) division, Sunak mentioned there have been “questions that need answering” within the case which his unbiased ethics advisor will probably be wanting into.

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The problem has dominated the information agenda for his authorities in current days, with the Opposition Labour Party demanding that Zahawi, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, be sacked.

“Integrity and accountability is really important to me and clearly in this case there are questions that need answering,” Sunak told reporters during a visit to a hospital in Northamptonshire in eastern England.

“That’s why I’ve asked our independent adviser to get to the bottom of everything, to investigate the matter fully and establish all the facts and provide advice to me on Nadhim Zahawi’s compliance with the ministerial code,” he said.

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In response, Zahawi said he welcomed the investigation and looked forward to “explaining the details of this problem” to Sir Laurie Magnus – the UK Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministers Interests.

“In order to make sure the independence of this course of, you’ll perceive that it might be inappropriate to debate this problem any additional, as I proceed my duties as chairman of the Conservative and Unionist Party,” said Zahawi.

The minister has insisted he “acted correctly all through” and any tax error was due to being “careless” and not deliberate.

Labour’s shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the issue undermines the public confidence in the political system.

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“I feel the minimal the British public anticipate from any politician, however definitely somebody who’s been the Chancellor of Exchequer, is that they’d have paid all their taxes with out having to be prompted to take action or harassed or campaigned in opposition to to take action,” mentioned Reynolds.

“And the danger is that the public sees a case like this and they just think all politics and public life revolves in this way and it doesn’t. And it undermines the probity of the country and it undermines the confidence people have in the political system,” he mentioned.

Besides this row, the Sunak authorities can be confronted with battle of curiosity allegations engulfing his former boss Boris Johnson.

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According to a ‘Sunday Times’ report, BBC chairman Richard Sharp was linked with serving to the then prime minister safe a mortgage of as much as 800,000 kilos.

In an announcement on Monday, Sharp referred to as the row “a distraction for the organisation, which I regret” and mentioned the BBC board will evaluate any potential conflicts of curiosity he could have.

Sharp, a former Goldman Sachs banker, additionally occurs to be Sunak’s former boss throughout his days within the non-public sector. He was introduced as the federal government’s selection for the brand new BBC chairman in January 2021, when Johnson was Prime Minister.

Posted By:

Raajnandini Mukherjee

Published On:

Jan 23, 2023