Today, it was reported that Nadhim Zahawi was denied a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours list due to his tax issues.
After finally delivering a statement to clear up ‘confusion’ on a substantial settlement with HMRC, the Tory leader is facing new questions.
Mr. Zahawi is believed to have paid a payment to the tax authorities, claimed to be in excess of seven figures, while serving as Chancellor toward the end of Boris Johnson’s term.
However, the Cabinet minister emphasized that both sides recognized that the tax concerns had been ‘careless’ rather than intentional.
Labour demands an impartial investigation into the revelations. In an interview this morning, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly emphasized Mr. Zahawi’s entrepreneurial history and stated that he believes his colleague will remain in his position.
Mr. Cleverly further raised eyebrows by claiming he was unaware of the situation’s specifics because he was out of the country on business and spent yesterday relaxing and’shopping’
The Sun on Sunday reported that YouGov’s founder, Mr. Zahawi, had been nominated for a knighthood in the recent honours process, but did not make the final cut.
A source close to the former vaccinations minister stated, ‘Nadhim is very proud to have overseen the UK’s vaccine deployment and the reopening of schools during the Omicron outbreak.
And it was the greatest honor of his life to plan the funeral of Her Majesty while working in the Cabinet Office. He served his nation because he loved it, and that is reward enough.’
A Westminster source acquainted with the procedure told MailOnline, ‘These faceless apparatchiks randomly bestow upon themselves every honor under the sun.
‘However, when someone leads the only two accomplishments of the State in recent memory, vaccines and Her Majesty’s burial, some pen-pusher decides to obstruct acknowledgement of genuine achievement on account of a technical accounting problem. It is disgraceful.
After finally releasing a statement to clear up ‘confusion’ on a major settlement with HMRC, Nadhim Zahawi is facing new issues.
Mr. Zahawi is said to have paid a seven-figure payment to the tax authorities when Chancellor at the end of Boris Johnson’s term in office.
Mr. Zahawi did not divulge the reported £4.8 million HMRC settlement, which included a 30% penalty, nor did he confirm whether he paid a punishment.
He disputed charges that he dodged taxes by holding YouGov shares through an offshore corporation registered in Gibraltar.
Mr. Zahawi did not accept founder shares when he established YouGov, stating in his statement that his father received shares “in exchange for some capital and his invaluable counsel.”
Twenty-one years later, when I was appointed chancellor of the Exchequer, inquiries were raised regarding my tax affairs. At the time, I discussed this with the Cabinet Office.
“After conversations with HMRC, they agreed that my father was entitled to YouGov founding shares, but they differed on the precise allotment. They decided that this was a “non-intentional and careless” error.
To be able to focus on my life as a public servant, I elected to resolve the dispute and pay what they demanded, which was the proper course of action.
Mr. Zahawi stated that HMRC concurred that he had never established an offshore structure, including Balshore Investments, and that he was not the beneficiary of Balshore Investments.
He claimed that the situation had been settled and his tax affairs were “up to date” when Mr. Sunak chose him as chairman of the Conservative Party in October.
Sources emphasized that there was no “negotiation” with HMRC, and that Mr. Zahawi simply instructed his accountants to pay the requested amount to settle the problem.
According to a source who spoke to The Sun on Sunday, Nadhim had been nominated for a knighthood. In December, Cabinet officials reached out to HMRC as part of routine due diligence.
Subsequently, Nadhim did not appear on the New Year’s list.
The Cabinet Office refuses to comment on specific cases of honors.
Mr. Cleverly stated that he was unable to respond to queries on Nadhim Zahawi’s tax troubles because he was performing his duties as foreign secretary and “doing some shopping.”
When asked why he lacked information, he stated on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, “I spent all of last week in the United States of America and Canada.”
I returned to the United Kingdom early on Friday morning after a long flight, before engaging with constituents all day Friday and resting and going shopping on Saturday.
He said, “It is Nadhim’s prerogative to determine how much information should be made public.”
Mr. Cleverly also justified keeping the tax affairs of politicians “personal and private.”
He stated, “Well, I think it’s appropriate that people’s tax affairs are personal and confidential.”
He continued, “We constantly hear that we want politicians to be more like the rest of us and less of a peculiar and unique beast.”
“Therefore, I believe that, you know, the rules that we apply to people should also be applied to politicians.
“Therefore, as I previously stated, we do not demand it of others, and if politicians choose to do so, that’s great.” However, I do not believe that having a criteria that is distinct from the rest of society is generally the best approach to proceed.
Rishi Sunak is being questioned regarding his knowledge of the matter, and calls have been made to fire Mr. Zahawi.
The Prime Minister’s pledge to restore ‘purity’ to the government was given a setback this week when he was fined for not wearing a seatbelt and criticized for the disbursement of Levelling Up funds.
Downing Street stated that it had nothing further to add to Mr. Zahawi’s remarks and confirmed the Prime Minister’s trust in him as Tory chairman.
Opposition parties have urged an independent investigation and the release of Mr. Zahawi’s entire correspondence with HMRC.
Anneliese Dodds, chairwoman of the Labour party, stated, ‘Nadhim Zahawi must clarify when he became aware of the probe and whether he was chancellor and in command of our tax system at the time.
“He must explain why his legal counsel said his affairs were in order in December of last year, yet he paid a million-pound fine this month.”
And he must explain why he used threatening and intimidating legal action to silence tax experts’ reasonable questions last year.
Rishi Sunak must immediately remove Nadhim Zahawi from his position as party chair and clarify his knowledge of the investigation into Zahawi at the time.
Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, stated, “Zahawi and his Conservative Cabinet colleagues are arrogantly attempting to sweep this under the rug.
There are still undetermined facts, so an impartial investigation must be conducted to determine the truth.
»Chairman of the Conservative Party, Nadhim Zahawi, was denied a knighthood over a tax dispute«