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Conservative Party Speaker Nadim Zahawi is under pressure to resign after admitting to paying a fine for failing to pay taxes due to “negligence”.
Rishi Sunak was not informed of Zahawi’s tax details when he appointed him to the cabinet. Me I understand.
Government representatives say they believe the matter has been resolved after Mr Zahawi agreed to pay around £5m in arrears taxes and payments and disputes with the tax authorities have been resolved. The Labor Party asked him to resign.
Mr Zahawi receives his salary from the taxpayers and sits in the Cabinet as a minister without a portfolio, similar to the post of party leader.He and his father had.
He added: I decided to settle the matter and pay what they owed so I could focus on my civil service life. “
The payment is believed to have been agreed last summer, during a brief stint as Treasury Secretary under Boris Johnson. The minister has tried to keep the details private for months.
By the time Sunak took office in October, cabinet office officials told him that Zahawi’s personal affairs were no longer an obstacle to his appointment as minister. He did not know the details of the tax dispute beyond what was publicly reported.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverley claimed today (January 22) that Mr Zahawi’s job was not under threat.
Asked if he would survive in his post until the prime minister’s question on Wednesday, Cleverley said, “What are you going to say other than yes because he’s a very, very capable minister?”
He added: “People’s taxes are a private matter. Nadim has issued a statement admitting he made an inadvertent mistake and that this has now been resolved.”
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Mr Zahawi continues to come under pressure to release details about his tax and correspondence with HMRC.
But former Conservative Party leader Sir Ian Duncan-Smith said Mr Zahawy should “get it all out and cleaned up now” rather than risk a long-running scandal.
Labor deputy leader Angela Rayner called on the prime minister to address the issue publicly. she said:
“The Prime Minister must clarify what and when he knew about Nadim Zahawi’s tax matters and the concerns raised in Number 10. You have the right to know if any person deemed unworthy of the title of knight has been repeatedly appointed to the cupboard.
“This whole episode undermines the public’s trust, asking the prime minister in charge of the country’s finances to pay taxes to the public, and apparently not doing so himself.
“Rishi Sunak has failed to live up to his promises of integrity, professionalism and accountability.”
Sunak promised to release his tax returns, but has yet to do so.
