UK PM orders investigation into party chairman’s tax affairs
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Loading... - Allison Bergeron
- 24 Jan 2023
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Rishi Sunak says ‘questions need answering’ over fellow Conservative Party politician Nadhim Zahawi’s dealings.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has ordered an investigation into the tax affairs of the chairman of his governing Conservative Party, saying there are “questions that need answering” about the dealings.
Sunak said on Monday that he had asked his independent ethics adviser Laurie Magnus to look into Nadhim Zahawi’s multimillion-pound case, which relates to the 55-year-old’s co-founding of opinion polling firm YouGov in 2000 before he became a member of Parliament.
“Integrity and accountability is really important to me … There are questions that need answering and that is why I have asked our independent adviser to get to the bottom of everything,” Sunak told reporters.
He added that Zahawi would remain as party chairman during the investigation and had agreed to “fully cooperate” with the probe.
Zahawi said he welcomed the move and looked forward to explaining the “facts of the issue”, adding he would not discuss it further while the investigation was under way.
He has previously said the United Kingdom’s tax authorities ruled he had been “careless” with his declarations but had not deliberately made an error to pay less tax.
Multimillion-pound dispute
Zahawi has said questions were raised about his tax affairs when he was made finance minister last year by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, prompting him to raise them with government officials and the tax office, which disagreed with the number of shares given to his father.
“So that I could focus on my life as a public servant, I chose to settle the matter and pay what they said was due, which was the right thing to do,” he said in a statement on Saturday. Read More…
