NEWS STORY : Prime Minister to Launch Investigation into Tax Affairs of Nadhim Zahawi
STORY
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has announced that there will be an inquiry made by the Government’s new ethics advisor into the tax affairs of Nadhim Zahawi, the current Conservative Party chair. There are also allegations made that Nadhim Zahawi may have misled journalists when Chancellor of the Exchequer, particularly an investigation being conducted by Dan Neidle. Leaders from the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP have called on the Prime Minister to remove Zahawi from his current role given the allegations, but these have been rejected by Downing Street. A debate will also be held later today in the House of Commons following the Speaker’s decision to allow an urgent Parliamentary question on the matter.
Nadhim Zahawi said that he had made mistakes, but that they were careless rather than deliberate errors, saying in a statement:
“Twenty-two years ago, I co-founded a company called YouGov. When we set it up, I didn’t have the money or the expertise to go it alone, so I asked my father to help. In the process, he took founder shares in the business in exchange for some capital and his invaluable guidance. Following discussions with HMRC, they agreed that my father was entitled to founder shares in YouGov, though they disagreed about the exact allocation. They concluded that this was a ‘careless and not deliberate’ error”.
RESOURCES
Comments made by Daisy Cooper from the Liberal Democrats
Comments made by Angela Rayner from the Labour Party
Comments made by Emily Thornberry from the Labour Party
Dan Neidle – 2023 Article on the Personal Tax Affairs of Nadhim Zahawi
Statement made by Nadhim Zahawi
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