ANI
30 Jan 2023, 09:55 GMT+10
London [UK], January 30 (ANI): United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi on Sunday over personal tax affairs, CNN reported.
The recent investigation, ordered by Rishi Sunak, revealed that Zahawi has done a 'serious breach' of the Ministerial Code, Rishi Sunak said in a letter given to Zahwiri.
Sunak last week ordered his ethics adviser to investigate Zahawi following claims he had paid a penalty as part of a reported Pound 4.8 million (USD 5.96 million) settlement with tax officials. It was alleged that Zahawi did not declare the dispute with tax authorities.
In a letter, Sunak said, "It is clear that there has been a serious breach of the Ministerial Code. As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in His Majesty's Government."The UK's Ministerial Code sets out the standards of conduct expected of ministers and how they discharge their duties, as per the report in CNN.
Reports of Zahawi's multi-million-pound settlement with tax officials shocked Britons, many of whom are battling to survive amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Interestingly, Sunak himself has also been scrutinised over the tax arrangements of his wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of an Indian billionaire. Last year, Sunak and Murty appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List of the UK's 250 wealthiest people -- the newspaper estimated their joint net worth at Pound 730 million (USD 826 million), according to UK-based media publications.
Indian-born Murty is the daughter of Narayana Murthy, the billionaire co-founder of tech giant Infosys and has a 0.9 per cent stake in the company worth hundreds of millions of pounds according to its latest annual report.
In a letter responding to his dismissal published Sunday, Zahawi said it had been the privilege of his life to serving in successive UK governments but he didn't make any references to the report regarding tax affairs.
"I arrived in this country fleeing persecution and speaking no English. Here, I built a successful business and served in some of the highest offices in government. I believe that in no other country on earth would my story be possible," the statement read.
Zahawi was appointed chancellor of the exchequer -- finance minister -- by former prime minister Boris Johnson in July last year. He remained in the Cabinet under Johnson's successor Liz Truss and her successor, Sunak, who made him party chairman.
According to the UK government site, Zahawi was previously Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, and Minister for Equalities from 6 September to 25 October 2022. (ANI)
Get a daily dose of The UK News news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to The UK News.
More InformationWhile Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has been frantically shuttling around the Middle East trying to stop the Israeli coflict ...
LESBOS, Greece: Greek authorities said a cargo ship sank off the island of Lesbos over the weekend during a storm, ...
COLUMBUS, Ohio: To stop the spread of bird flu, more than 1.3 million chickens will be killed on Ohio's Union ...
In a devastating turn of events, Israel's war on Gaza, sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attacks on October 7, has resulted ...
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: In a Louisiana election where more than 43,000 people cast their ballots, a candidate for parish sheriff ...
LIVINGSTON, Kentucky: This week, railroad operator CSX said a train derailment involving 16 cars, two of which spilled molten sulfur ...
New Delhi [India], November 30 (ANI): Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher stated that Argentina superstar Lionel Messi is way ahead ...
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 30 (ANI): Punjab FC head coach Staikos Vergetis has urged his players to show character and ...
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 30 (ANI): Bengaluru FC head coach Simon Grayson feels that home advantage will be of great ...
white house - Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the U.S. delegation to the world's premier climate summit, the White ...
Kochi (Kerala) [India], November 30 (ANI): Chennaiyin FC head coach Owen Coyle felt that the result could have gone either ...
Kochi (Kerala) [India], November 30 (ANI): Kerala Blasters FC head coach Ivan Vukomanovic took valuable lessons from his side's performance ...