A Sequel to Richi Sunak acting Dictatorially
Richi Sunak’s re-shuffle of his cabinet on 7th February was the direct result of Nadhim Zahawi being less than transparent over his tax affairs. Zahawi was fined for tax avoidance by the UK’s tax authorities, HMRC.
During the last few Questions to the Prime Minister, Sir Kier Starmer asked Sunak when he first knew about Zahawi’s tax avoidance and why he didn’t sack him sooner. He received no answers. The media knew, The voting public knew. But, apparently, the Prime Minister did not. Did senior civil servants warn him that Zahawi was breaking the ministerial code? There has been no response from Downing Street on that, but it is assumed Sunak was told but choose to ignore the warnings.
Rather than dismiss him from his position of Conservative Party chairman and Minister Without Portfolio, Sunak appointed Sir Laurie Magnus as an independent investigator. On reading Magnus’ report, the Prime Minister eventually dismissed him from all government positions on Sunday 29th January. The timing is significant. He did not want to give Starmer an opportunity to question him in the House of Commons before the next PMQ’s on Wednesday 8th February.
It is usual to invite a minister who is being dismissed to resign voluntarily. This face-saving approach was not given to Nadhim Zahawi, who has publicly commented on his harsh treatment.
He still remains a back bench Tory M.P. and promised loyalty to Sunak, but he remains very bitter at Zahawi was being disingenuous by claiming he was Zahawi Zahawi claims that he was unaware that he was being investigated by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, HMRC. As a former shrewd businessman who founded You Gov and became a billionaire, that does not ring true. And as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and effectively responsible for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, it is inconceivable that he thought he was not being investigated.
Members of the Commons Select Committee had a difficult time understanding how Nadhim Zahawi could be “innocent” of a tax offence yet still escape a penalty. Although neither they nor Harra were allowed to discuss Zahawi’s affairs by name, Harra explained that HMRC were sympathetic to “careless and not deliberate errors”. Talking generally in respect of all taxpayers, he went on to say “there are no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs”.
The committee could not get Harra to agree that a taxpayer, given a significant penalty by the taxman as in Zahawi’s case, could be declared “innocent”. Harra is too much an establishment figure.
This is the formal and brusque letter that Sunak wrote to Nadhim Zahawi.
Dear Nadhim,
When I became Prime Minister last year, I pledged that the Government I lead would have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.
That is why, following new information which came to light in recent days regarding your personal financial arrangements and declarations, I asked Sir Laurie Magnus, the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, to fully investigate this matter.
You agreed and undertook to cooperate fully with the inquiry.
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.
As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in His Majesty’s Government.
As you leave, you should be extremely proud of your wide-ranging achievements in government over the last five years.
In particular, your successful oversight of the COVID-19 vaccine procurement and deployment programme which ensured the United Kingdom was at the forefront of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Your role was critical to ensuring our country came through this crisis and saved many lives.
And as the Conservative Party Chairman, you have undertaken significant restructuring to Conservative Campaign Headquarters and readied us for important work in the coming months.
It is also with pride that I, and previous Prime Ministers, have been able to draw upon the services of a Kurdish-born Iraqi refugee at the highest levels of the U.K. Government.
That is something which people up and down this country have rightly valued.
I know I will be able to count on your support from the backbenches as you continue to passionately and determinedly serve your constituents of Stratford-on-Avon and represent the many issues and campaigns you are dedicated to.
Thank you for your service to this and previous governments.
Yours sincerely,
Rishi Sunak
Although Richi Sunak was born in England and is a British citizen, he held an American Green Card while in government office and had Non-Dom status. He has since given up his Non-Dom status and Green Card.
His father, Yashir, was a doctor in general practice with several surgeries. His mother Usha owned a chain of pharmacies. It is certainly true that, through the family’s good fortune, Sunak was given opportunities which are not open — then and now — to most ordinary people. And he appoints many wealthy people to Cabinet with similar backgrounds.
His wife, Akshata, had Non-Dom status for 15 years, claiming she was domiciled in India. That is not illegal. Non-Doms pay the UK treasury £30,000 per year which then allows them to pay no tax on income earned abroad where taxes are lower. Akshata’s principal dividend income come from the tech giant, Infosys, which her father, Narayana Murthy, founded and owns. It was £7 million in 2022. This saved her around £2.1 million. In late 2022, she withdrew her Non-Dom status. Her father is the 6th wealthiest man in India.
HMRC approve Non-Dom status on a case by case basis and depending who you are. The questions they usually ask are:
Where do you intend to be buried or cremated? Is your background British? Is your lifestyle more of your native country than of Britain? Where do you own property?
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Sunak and his wife are listed as having wealth of £750 million in the UK alone. Akshata with £450m and Richi with £300m. Let’s look at Sunak’s cabinet re-shuffle.
PRIME MINISTER SUNAK NOW PLANS TO INTRODUCE MEASURES TO KEEP HIS GOVERNMENT IN POWER.
Five senior cabinet members will be involved in making these changes.
He has set up a stronger department of Energy under Grant Shapps. As well as focusing on reducing energy costs to mitigate the high prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he will be responsible for energy security and achieving a net-zero target on emissions. An odd appointment as Shapps scrapped his Department of Energy and Climate Change in 2016!
No date is given for that. There is no mention of creating cost-effective on-land wind turbines. The ban on fracking will remain in place. Vital investment for gas storage is not on the cards. As a temporary measure, the government will allow the mining of fossil fuels until March 2023. Commentators and many politicians, therefore, believe he will not be able to achieve the planned objectives.
Michelle Donelan heads up the new Science and Innovative Technology department which will spend a forecast 20 billion on research and development. She has limited experience and a poor track record. She stayed in office as Education Secretary for just 36 hours!
An expanded department of Business and Trade will be run by Kemi Badenoch, a former leadership contender who was considered by commentators to be out of favour with Sunak. How wrong they were.
Culture, Media, and Sport goes to Lucy Frazer. She is a barrister and famous for warning Meghan Markle when her romance with Prince Harry was revealed.
“I remember saying to her, ‘When this goes public, it is not going to be easy. The UK media are notorious for doing whatever they can to get a story. They go through rubbish bins, they’ll try and break into accounts. They will do whatever they can to get an exclusive and make money.”
Greg Hands, a former whip and trade minister, is the new Chairman of the Conservative party and minister without portfolio, replacing Nadhim Zahawi who was fired 9 days ago. Hands is right-wing but nowhere near as extremist as his deputy, Lee Anderson. A high flyer who has held ministerial positions under 4 prime ministers, Hands is popular with Tory members. Although demoted by Teresa May, she later made him a minister. During his political career he has resigned twice on matters of principle. He initially voted to stay in the European Union but later changed his mind saying that “in the longer term” we would see the benefits of leaving. He was formerly a merchant banker, is part of the elite Oxbridge university set that is so prominent in Conservative governments, and is a Privy Counsellor.
PRIME MINISTER SUNAK’S FIVE PROMISES ARE: HALVING INFLATION, GROWING THE ECONOMY, REDUCING THE DEBT, CUTTING HOSPITAL WAITING LISTS, AND STOPPING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
Not all Tory back-benchers believe he has any hope of delivering on that. Political commentators point out that the government has had 12 years to make progress on these ideas but has failed. Inflation is already falling and likely to continue because people are not receiving wage and salary increases. Their only option is to cut back on spending. That in itself curbs inflation. The government can’t take credit for that. Lower fuel supply costs are forecast but effect will be cancelled when the government increases energy charges by 40% in April 2023.
Growing the economy needs a productive and well-paid workforce. That won’t happen when government is refusing to allow wage increases even though the claims are lower than actual and forecast inflation. It doesn’t help the government’s case when tax-payers see the gains the rich make through Non-Dom status loopholes and profiteering from the high prices charged by the energy companies.
The government is not reducing debt. It can’t. It has too many commitments: giving 10% increases to pensioners and those on benefit in April 2023, for example.
Over the last 12 years, the hospital service has suffered from cut-backs in staff numbers, low recruitment, and many leaving the profession. All this happened on the government’s watch, resources were simply not adequate. The new measures, like releasing some patients from hospital to be looked after at home, are to be applauded. But, it will take time to increase resources so that waiting times are reduced to acceptable levels. To keep to his objectives, Sunak will need to recruit more doctors, nurses, care workers, and ambulance drivers.
“Stopping the Boats”, as he calls it, seems a pipe dream given that numbers have risen to an all-time high. The latest figures released by the government show that on one day alone, 2 January 2023, 44 immigrants arrived in one boat and a further 80 in two boats were returned to Calais by the French border force. For the whole year 2022, 45,756 illegals had arrived in England — the highest since records began in 2018 — and 60% higher than in 2021.
NADHIM ZAHAWI ISN’T THE ONLY POLITICIAN CAUGHT UP IN SLEAZE, SCANDAL, OR CORRUPTION.
Infamous for his role in Partygate, Boris Johnson was continually entangled in scandal after scandal. He was a charismatic character when mayor of London, hang-gliding over the Thames to secure votes. As the first Prime Minister after Labour lost the elections in July 2019, he has always sought the limelight and publicity. Although he often missed important meetings and had a short attention span for detail, he was, and still is, a brilliant orator.
When his government were forbidding ordinary people from visiting sick and dying relatives during the Covid pandemic and lockdown, he was illegally partying in Downing Street with colleagues. The police issued 126 penalty notices, three were issued to Johnson, his wife Corrie, and Richi Sunak. They paid and apologised.
Following his resignation from the premiership after the Partygate scandal, he was involved with allegations that he involved Richard Sharp, who at the time was lobbying Johnson for the position of BBC chairman, in helping him obtain an £800.000 loan. Johnson was on a salary £165000 but wanted more money to continue his expensive lifestyle. Sharp introduced him to Sam Blythe, a rich Canadian businessman. That, in itself was strange because Blythe was Boris’ second cousin and they would have known each other.
The web thickens. Sam Blythe was also a donor to the campaign funds of both Boris Johnson and Richi Sunak
It happens only rarely, but there is a procedure for constituents to recall an M.P. if they are displeased and want to elect a different member of parliament. The cabinet secretary, Simon Case, is now involved and if the House of Commons disciplinary committee orders that Boris be suspended for a period of 10 days or more, then constituency members will be asked to consider his removal.
Liz Truss lasted only 44 days as Prime Minister, having spooked the financial markets by her low tax policies. The dollar/sterling exchange rate was down to $1.06 (currently at $1.21). The Treasury estimate that, of the present “black hole” in the economy of £60 billion, £30 billion can be attributed to policies introduced by Liz Truss. That may be incompetence, but is not a scandal.
Truss married in 2000 but had an 18 month affair with a former Conservative MP. It ended in June 2005 and Truss says that she and her husband resolved the issue and are now very much happily married. In this modern age, do sex scandals mean the end of a politician’s career? Nicola Sturgeon has said that they should not affect an MPs ability to do the job. It was different 50 years ago. Profumo lied to his then Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan, about his affair with Christine Keller and did not disclose how close she was to a Russian spy. The scandal brought down the Conservative government.
However, it is true that the British have a characteristic objection to the hypocrisy of parliamentarians encouraging family life but at the same time engaging in extra-marital activities, being caught with one’s trousers down.
Although not in government, Baroness Michelle Mone, made a Conservative life peer by David Cameron 2015, is proving to be a problem for the present Conservative government. Between 2020 and 2022 she was allowed to use the “VIP Fast Track Lane” set up by the government to allow their favoured suppliers to avoid the usual channels and bid for government contracts. She won a contract for the provision of personal protective equipment and received £29 million into an off-shore trust to avoid paying tax in the UK.
She was formerly a member of the Labour party and between 2020 and 2022 made only 5 speeches in the House of Lords. She last voted in April 2022.
Dominic Raab, over the last few months, has been accused of bullying by 24 his own civil servants. While aware of the claims over many years and from different departments of government, Sunak has not suspended him. He remains in post as Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary.
One retired former civil servant claimed he “behaved like a monster at times”, calling subordinates stupid. He would make examples of very senior members of staff in front of more junior members.
Sunak has, finally, appointed Adam Tolley KC as an independent investigator.
Suella Braverman, who retains her post as Home Secretary following the re-shuffle, was mired in controversy when she sent confidential ministerial information via her private email to people not authorised to receive such information. After initially denying any breaches of security and the ministerial code, and after being challenged by civil servants, Braverman apologised and resigned. Six days later, Sunak re-appointed her and took no further action.
A former coal miner who worked in the mines for 10 years, Lee Anderson started his political life in the Labour party. He was suspended after he had received a community protection order from the local council for obstructing entry to a travelling community’s campsite.
He defected to the Conservatives in March 2018 because he believed the Labour party had become “too hard left”. His controversial and out-spoken views have, however, not endeared him to many Conservative MPs. His appointment as Deputy Chairman shows that Sunak is stressing Anderson’s extreme right-wing credentials, in contrast to the less extreme views of his popular Chairman, Greg Hands.
Anderson supports the death penalty, saying to journalists “Capital punishment? 100% effective. Nobody has ever committed a killing after being executed”.
He claimed nurses should budget better and that there was no need for them to use food banks in hospitals.Nuisance tenants, Anderson said, should be evicted and forced to pick vegetables for 12 hours a day. He advocates cutting foreign aid by half and has been investigated for antisemitism.
HOW SIR KIER STARMER IS REACTING TO THE GOVERNMENT’S DIFFICULTIES IN PARLIAMENT
The monarch’s role is to “encourage, advise, and warn” the ministers whom he has appointed to govern in his name. Those meetings are never recorded and it is taboo for ministers to disclose conversations publicly.
The role of government ministers, who are MPs elected by the voting population, is to carry out the mandate on which they were elected. That is achieved by introducing legislation that can be debated and challenged in both Houses of Parliament, voted on by all members, then submitted to the monarch for approval. By convention, the King always accepts the advice of his ministers and approves the Bills presented to him.
As leader of His Majesty’s Loyal opposition, it is Sir Kier Starmer’s duty to hold the government to account by criticising constructively and questioning its policies and actions. It is part of the “checks and balances” system in a constitutional monarchy where the monarch reigns but does not rule.
As well as keeping checks on the present government, the party in opposition wants to be elected into power itself. It can do this by tabling a vote of confidence which, if it wins the vote, will result in an election being called and the country deciding which party the voters want in government.
In practice, members in the House of Commons do not have a free vote. The government whips will ensure that their MPs vote to defeat the motion, and the opposition whips will make them vote for it.
As the conservative party has a majority of 66 over all others parties in the Commons, Starmer has virtually no chance of getting Labour into government until a general election is called. The conservatives are unlikely to call an election given their big majority. Under the fixed term parliament act, however, an election would have to be called on 24 January 2025.
Starmer is concentrating on making the Labour party look like a credible party for government. He is courting business leaders and the elite of the financial sector in a bid to get their support, stressing that Labour has changed from an irresponsible tax and spend party of activists and will govern for the benefit of the whole country.
THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA
Famous for her forceful interview with Prince Andrew over his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, Emily Maitliss is a prime example of how journalists can influence politicians and those in public life by asking tough questions in interviews.
