Conservative Party Chairman and former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi is coming under increasing pressure to resign his current post as more revelations about his mismanagement of taxes come to light.
Questions around Zahawi’s taxes have been floating around since July last year when he was appointed Chancellor, questions that the current Prime Minister should have been aware of before appointing Zahawi as Tory Chairman and Minister without Portfolio.
The issue stems from shares in Zahawi’s former polling company YouGov, some of which were reportedly sold by a Gibraltar-based Balshore Investments in 2018 for around £27 million. Zahawi has allegedly since paid HMRC around £5 million to settle his account after what HMRC referred to as a “careless and not deliberate” error made by Zahawi.
The crux of the issue is whether or not the Prime Minister (or any former Prime Minister who appointed him to positions) knew about this issue prior to his appointment(s). Rishi Sunak committed his government to the principles of integrity, professionalism, and accountability on the steps of Downing Street, but if it transpires that he was aware and appointed him anyway, that pledge becomes null and void.
The issue was raised at Prime Minister’s Questions last week, to which Rishi Sunak said Zahawi had already addressed all questions, and he considered the matter closed.
However, at PMQs today, the question was put to him again, to which he gave a much less pithy answer. Sunak stated that since last week, more details had come to light, and that is why he appointed his independent advisor for standards to the case.
He stressed the importance of establishing all the facts before pre-judging the situation, but the facts have not changed since the story first came to light. It seems that the only changes to the situation are that Zahawi’s tax affairs have snowballed into a major scandal for the Tories, one that can no longer be swept out of the public eye with a short, dismissive answer.
The most efficient action for Sunak to take in this situation would be to promptly sack Zahawi and appoint a new Tory chair. Not only would this demonstrate to the public (and to his own rebellious MPs) that he is indeed committed to integrity, professionalism, and accountability as he promised he would be, but also put his government in stark contrast to recent Tory governments that fought tooth and nail to defend corrupt MPs and ministers.
I doubt we will see such decisive action from Sunak. If his independent advisor finds that the Zahawi was indeed negligent, wilfully or carelessly, he will likely sack him, but it will be too little too late. Zahawi’s tax affairs have been public knowledge for months, and who knows how long government insiders like Sunak have known. Sunak will have once again showcased the lack of spine that is defining his premiership thus far.
Zahawi has railed against these allegations since their inception; he tried to sue the tax lawyer who broke the story for libel, but nothing that the lawyer (Dan Neidle) brought to light was false, putting Zahawi into even choppier waters for potential false libel accusations.
The hideous head of the sleeping Tory scandal giant is once again rising. I am not a supporter of the Conservative party at the best of times, but even I hoped for more than a few weeks without another massive steaming pile of sleaze from this corrupt party.
The latest Nadhim Zahawi scandal is, of course, not the only story besmirching the Tories this week; the sleaziest ex-PM in Britain is once again in the headlines. He is now fighting off allegations that he secured an £800,000 loan while he was in office, arranged partly by the incumbent Chairman of the BBC, Richard Sharp, a position he was awarded by Johnson after the loan was secured
Johnson’s immediate response when this story broke was achingly predictable; he traveled to Ukraine to meet President Zelenskyy. While I will never be opposed to British politicians travelling to a war zone to raise awareness, Johnson’s repeated use of Ukraine to deflect attention from his personal wrongdoing is sickening.
The Johnson-Sharp story is perhaps of more heinous morality than an ex-chancellor avoiding taxes (which is already a uniquely low bar), but the government and the PM are receiving greater flak over Zahawi than over Johnson.
And rightly so. Sunak has already voiced his opposition to Johnson’s personal brand of sleaze when he resigned as chancellor last year, and can’t easily be criticised for it, but Zahawi was given his current post under Sunak’s watch. Also, the less attention given by British media to Boris Johnson, the better.
Even is Zahawi is cleared of any wrongdoing by Sunak’s standards advisor, his future as party chairman will forever be mired by this scandal. He is already known to be a massively wealthy person, famously spending taxpayer money to heat his stables. Sunak’s position will also have been further weakened by keeping a perceived tax avoider on his cabinet.
The only way for Sunak to save face is to sack Zahawi as soon as possible; the longer he delays, the worse he will look in the long run. But this government is not known for swift and decisive action (except when protecting one of their own from scrutiny), so Zahawi will probably remain in post, again to the detriment of the Conservatives’ electability.
Whilst I despair for the integrity and openness of the British political system after 13 years of Conservative government, and a few more to go, every mistake is another nail in the coffin of the Tory’s election chances. A running theme in my posts about UK politics is the need for fresh leadership and a change in ideology, so if Sunak wants to weaken his party’s chances, he can go ahead. The sooner we have a Labour government, the better.
stay safe
/e