UK PM Sunak fires party chairman over breaching ministerial code

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
29 Jan 12:26

Nadhim Zahawi, the Tory party chairman, faces calls to resign after it was revealed that he paid a penalty to HMRC for the previously unpaid tax while he was chancellor as part of a multi-million-pound dispute.

UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks to the media. (Reuters)

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi from the government after an independent probe into his tax issues revealed a severe breach of the ministerial code.

“Following the completion of the Independent Adviser’s investigation – the findings of which he has shared with us both – it is clear that there has been a serious breach of the Ministerial Code,” Sunak wrote in a publicly released letter to Zahawi.

"As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in His Majesty’s Government", he added.

This is happening just a few days after Sunak instructed his independent ethics advisor to investigate the disclosures made about Nadhim Zahawi's tax issues.

Zahawi, the Tory party chairman, faced calls to resign after it was revealed that he paid a penalty to HMRC for the previously unpaid tax while he was chancellor as part of a multi-million-pound dispute.