Inside Politics: Sunak tax row rumbles on
Chancellor breaks silence on stories about household tax arrangements as fresh reports emerge, writes Matt Mathers
Is Rishi Sunak losing the Midas touch? That’s the question asked in this morning’s Independent cartoon, which succinctly depicts the problems facing the chancellor and how they could impact his chances of one day winning the keys to No 10 Downing Street.
Today’s headlines certainly won’t help that cause, as critics raise more questions about his household’s wealth and tax arrangements. John Rentoul, our chief politics commentator, recently wrote about how Sunak shares some similarities with Tony Blair, the former Labour leader, whose march to No 10 was soundtracked by D:Ream’s Things Can Only Get Better. Unfortunately for the chancellor, all the signs suggest that politically, things are only going to get worse as the cost of living crisis really begins to bite.
Inside the bubble
The Commons is not sitting
Coming up:
– Ukrainian ambassador Vadym Prystaiko on Sky News Breakfast at 8.20am
– Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry on Times Radio Breakfastat 8.35am
Daily Briefing
- UKRAINE LATEST: Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, has warned that the situation in Borodyanka is “significantly more dreadful” than in nearby Bucha, which has come to international attention in recent days after the discovery of mass graves and evidence of torture. In his latest overnight video address, Zelensky said rescuers in the town, about 50 miles northwest of capital Kyiv, are shifting through the ruins of obliterated buildings and there are “even more victims of Russian occupiers”. Like Bucha, Borodyanka had seen intense fighting as Putin’s troops attempted to advance on Kyiv but were pushed back amid stiff Ukrainian resistance. They are now said to be regrouping and focusing their efforts in the east. “In the north, Russian forces have now fully withdrawn from Ukraine to Belarus and Russia,” Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in its daily update this morning. “At least some of these forces will be transferred to east Ukraine to fight in the Donbas.” We’ll have all the latest updates on our liveblog.
- TAXING TIMES: Sunak wakes up to a dreadful set of headlines this morning as further questions are raised about his household’s tax arrangements, with the story – in one form or another – making the front of most major outlets. The chancellor came out swinging last night, giving an interview to The Sun in which he accused the Labour Party of an “awful” smear campaign against him. Labour says it would be “breathtaking hypocrisy” if Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, had been actively taking steps to reduce her tax bill while the chancellor raised taxes for millions of families, following reports Murty pays £30,000 a year for her non-dom status, meaning she does not have to pay UK tax on her overseas income and reportedly took £11.6m in dividends in the past year from Infosys, the Indian IT firm founded by her father. The Guardian this morning reports that Murty’s financial arrangements means she “may have avoided £20m in UK tax” while the Daily Mirror says that Murty “profits from £50m in UK public sector contracts while avoiding millions in taxes”. Murty and Sunak have denied any wrongdoing and insist she hasn’t broken any rules. From a purely political perspective, perhaps the juiciest story on the affair is that on the front of The Daily Telegraph and The Times, both of which report that Sunak’s allies are pointing the finger at No 10 for the leak about Murty’s non-dom status, although Downing Street and the Treasury have both refuted the reports.
- FALSE STATEMENTS: Dozens of false statements have been made in parliament by Boris Johnson and his ministers over the past two years amid a “crisis of honesty”, it can be revealed. The prime minister has not lodged any corrections to the official House of Commons record, despite being reprimanded by the statistics watchdog and having his incorrect statements pointed out by opposition MPs and fact-checkers. Labour has accused the government of disrespecting the public with a “litany of lies and falsehoods”, while the Conservative former attorney general Dominic Grieve said the figures suggested “a disregard both for good governance and truth”.
- BRIEFING WAR: No 10 denies the non-dom leak, but there has certainly been a series of hostile briefings/leaks against Sunak this week over the much-fought over and delayed energy security strategy, with Johnson, Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, and Sunak all locking horns on funding. Another one of those unhelpful leaks, if you are Sunak, has made it into the i, which reports that the chancellor rejected proposals by Kwarteng’s department to give more help to families hit by soaring home energy bills. The Treasury did not dispute the report.
- IN A PICKLES: A former Conservative cabinet minister has provoked anger after telling the Grenfell Inquiry not to waste his time because he is “extremely busy”. Eric Pickles, who was housing secretary, was being grilled about a programme to cut “red tape” that he oversaw in government – and whether it compromised building safety regulations. The 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster, which saw the social housing block go up in flames after it had been covered in unsafe flammable cladding, resulted in the deaths of 72 people. But the public inquiry was left stunned on Thursday after the irate Lord Pickles, who is now a Tory peer, responded to questioning by saying he had been promised he could leave soon.
The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.
On the record
“It’s unpleasant, especially when she hasn’t done anything wrong. She hasn’t broken any rules. She’s followed the letter of the law. And if she was living here and didn’t just happen to be married to me this obviously would not be at all relevant.”
Sunak responds to stories about his wife’s tax affairs.
From the Twitterati
“Rishi Sunak’s political stock is plummeting almost as fast as living standards.”
New Statesman senior editor George Eaton.
Essential reading
- John Rentoul, The Independent: Tories think their ‘Brexit opportunity’ is to use the issue to defeat Keir Starmer
- Tom Peck, The Independent: If Rishi does become PM, will he be working remotely?
- Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian: Akshata Murty’s non-dom status is totally legal – and perfectly toxic for Rishi Sunak
- Mary Dejevsky, The Independent: Will the French elections reveal a shift to the right?
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