Nadhim Zahawi

PM's judgment in question as Zahawi fails to apologise after inquiry finds breaches of ministerial code.

Zahawi finally updated his declaration of interest to include the outcome of the HMRC investigation on 16 January 2023. Magnus said the delay in correcting an “untrue public statement” was a breach of the ministerial code. In his first breach of the code, Zahawi did not declare the matter, later telling the ethics adviser he had failed to realise it was a formal investigation. But Magnus said he should realised it was an investigation and treated it as a “serious matter”. “As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position,” he wrote. The ethics adviser, however, criticised him for “untrue” public statements over the HMRC investigation.

Instead, he has faced days of damaging headlines about the multimillionaire cabinet minister avoiding paying tax – and pressure from angry Tory MPs who have ...

At a time when so many people are struggling to make ends meet, the spectacle of Zahawi, a former chancellor, avoiding paying millions of pounds of tax is particularly damaging for the government. But even they know that the window to win back public trust is narrowing. They have also been an unwelcome distraction for ministers trying to deal with big issues such as the NHS crisis and public sector strikes. The prime minister – who has now lost two cabinet ministers in his first 100 days in office – will want nothing more than to put the whole damaging affair behind him. There are few in the Tory party who think Raab will survive in cabinet, meaning yet more political authority lost for Sunak. When it came to it, the prime minister acted swiftly.

The MP was sacked as Conservative Party chairman earlier on Sunday after an inquiry by Mr Sunak's ethics adviser. It came after it emerged Mr Zahawi paid a ...

"I think he should have gone a week ago or whenever the story broke." "I think Sunak should have moved more quickly. "I think he doesn't lead by example. "He hasn't been honest and he's failed in that test of leadership and I think it brings shame on the town and shame on the country and shame on the party that he represents," he said. I think he's been forced into the position," she said. If he had gone at the beginning of this week he'd have gone with some grace," she said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired Nadhim Zahawi, citing “serious” breaches of ethics rules after revelations about the Conservative Party chairman's tax ...

Amid signs of pushback by Zahawi over his sacking, Helen Whately says PM did right thing in removing him from cabinet.

Those were opportunities when he could have been transparent and he wasn’t. “There are serious questions for Rishi Sunak to answer,” the Labour chair, Anneliese Dodds, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday. “As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position,” he wrote. And it’s not that long again until there will be another general election in which voters will again make those decisions.” “What did he know about the investigation into Nadim Zahawi, the amount of money he had paid in unpaid tax and the penalty he had to pay? Asked if Sunak could have acted sooner, Whately defended the process.

In today's newsletter: Why did it take Rishi Sunak so long, and what exactly was the Tory party chair guilty of?

[scientists from the John Innes Centre in Norwich think they might have a discovered a solution](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/29/plant-toxin-new-weapon-antibiotic-war-against-bacteria-albicidin) in a pathogen that causes leaf scald in sugarcane. [iOS](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1487780661?mt=8) and [Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.guardian.puzzles&hl=en_GB&gl=US). [Maria C Hunt](https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/jan/29/san-francisco-palestinian-american-food-chefs)on the flourishing Palestinian dining scene in San Francisco. [Wrexham](https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2023/jan/29/wrexham-v-sheffield-united-fa-cup-fourth-round-live) were pegged back to 3-3 in the final moments against Championship high-flyers Sheffield United to set up a fourth-round replay at Bramall Lane. “That is why we are really excited – because we think it will be very hard for bacteria to evolve resistance against albicidin-derived antibiotics.” [Sign up here](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/12/the-upside-sign-up-for-our-weekly-email) for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday “Zahawi axed as Sunak gets tough on standards” – that’s the Times while the Daily Telegraph says “PM ‘sacked Zahawi without a fair hearing’”, attributing the complaint to party allies of Zahawi. [threatening those involved with legal action](https://twitter.com/danneidle/status/1619644390976409600?s=48&t=24i3L8bFxz4ILq3NrRQ06g) and describing reports of the investigation as “inaccurate, unfair and clearly smears”. “Rotten to the core” – the Daily Mirror says Rishi Sunak has “finally” sacked Zahawi as the Tories are “engulfed by sleaze”. While his supporters say that waiting shows he is level-headed and values detail in the face of chaos, many others would argue that Zahawi’s sacking was an inevitability and that Sunak has revealed he is unable to make tough political decisions. All of the measures are illegal under international law, and are likely to inflame tensions with the Palestinian public and the Palestinian Authority. In the end, she agreed to a six-month payout as well as an additional payment of two months’ salary, totalling £165,727.36. Sunak’s detractors have accused the prime minister of weakness for not acting sooner, but he has insisted that he had to go through the proper procedures before making any decision.

Sacking puts Sunak's political judgment under scrutiny, amid consistently bleak opinion polls for him and Tories.

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Nadhim Zahawi has been sacked from government after an inquiry by Rishi Sunak's ethics adviser criticised how he handled his tax affairs. The prime minister ...

Mr Zahawi - who was vaccines minister at the time - told Sir Laurie he believed he was "merely being asked certain queries" rather than being investigated. August 2022: Mr Zahawi reaches an agreement with HMRC for failing to take "reasonable care". Again, Mr Zahawi does not update his declaration of interest form "Regardless of what happened with the tax, his behaviour... he tried to shut me up". April 2021: HMRC starts having interactions with Mr Zahawi, including a meeting with him and his advisers. Sir Laurie says Mr Zahawi should have understood this was "a serious matter" and included it in his declaration of interests He also praised Mr Zahawi's "willingness to assist with my inquiry" and said he appreciated the pressures of being a minister. Asked whether he should ever have been appointed, Mr Gove said his "understanding" was that there was "no information that was brought to the attention of the prime minister, either Rishi or indeed Liz Truss which would have led them to believe at the time it was inappropriate to have Nadhim on the team". He concluded that Mr Zahawi had shown "insufficient regard for the general principles of the ministerial code and the requirements in particular to be honest, open and an exemplary leader through his own behaviour". Sir Laurie was also critical of Mr Zahawi for describing new stories about his tax affairs as "smears" and failing to correct the record until January 2023. Setting out his findings in a letter to the prime minister, Sir Laurie criticised Mr Zahawi not only for failing to include the HMRC investigation in his register of interests until July 2022, but also for failing to update it once a settlement had been reached.

Rishi Sunak is facing further criticism of his handling of allegations about Nadhim Zahawi's tax affairs, following his sacking as Tory party chairman · Labour ...

He was also critical of Zahawi for describing new reports about his tax affairs as "smears" and failing to correct the record until January 2023. But as prime minister, he also has to try and move on from some of the questions around ethics and standards that have swirled in the past two years. The prime minister is trying to draw a line under the Nadhim Zahawi affair. All this comes against the backdrop of already-waning public trust in UK politics, as Ipsos pollster Keiran Pedley reminds us with a striking graph about which professions British people trust to tell them the truth. is to fire the person in post." We cannot have someone in the cabinet putting themselves forward to be chancellor when they’re being investigated by HMRC." Here's what he had to say: They should get out of the way and let Labour take over," Kinnock said. Here's a quick recap of what's been happening: Downing Street said ministers were required to declare their relevant issues and Zahawi did not. Pressure on Zahawi continues - the Liberal Democrats have written to the prime minister stating that Zahawi should lose the Conservative whip - be kicked out of the party in parliament - if he does not resign as an MP Here's a quick recap:

Rishi Sunak on Monday insisted he would restore integrity to politics following his sacking of Nadhim Zahawi as Conservative chair, as new opinion polling ...

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PM says his sacking of Zahawi shows he will take 'whatever steps are necessary' to restore integrity to politics.

“There is no escaping the fact that with so many complaints that it is highly unlikely he will be exonerated.” The justice secretary has strongly denied bullying staff. “He wants someone in there who is a close ally,” one MP said. Sunak, who entered No 10 pledging to restore “integrity and accountability” in light of the Boris Johnson era, said his swift action on Magnus’s report demonstrated this was still his mission. Another MP, who has worked closely with Zahawi, said he was a “top guy” and there was unease at the way he had been treated. The prime minister, answering questions after an NHS-themed address at Teesside University in Darlington, said he had acted “decisively” to dismiss Zahawi on Sunday. Magnus concluded Zahawi had broken the rules by repeatedly failing to declare an HMRC investigation into his tax affairs where he was forced to pay a £5m settlement including a penalty.