What the papers say – January 30

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Nadhim Zahawi leads Monday’s papers after he was sacked following a  breach of the ministerial code over his tax affairs.

The Times reports allies of Rishi Sunak have said the Prime Minister will take a zero-tolerance approach to future breaches of the ministerial code after sacking Mr Zahawi.

The Guardian says weeks of damaging headlines have undermined the Prime Minister’s efforts to restore government integrity.

Allies of Mr Zahawi have said he was sacked without a fair hearing by Mr Sunak and that the report from the PM’s ethics advisor, Sir Laurie Magnus, was rushed out for political expediency, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Mr Sunak has made a U-turn, says the Financial Times, after initially backing Mr Zahawi when his £5 million tax settlement deal first became public.

The Independent asks why it took so long for Mr Zahawi to be sacked after he breached the ministerial code seven times and failed to apologise for lashing out at the media.

Vladimir Putin threatened Boris Johnson when the former prime minister warned him not to invade Ukraine last year, says the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mirror reports that Mr Sunak has been branded “weak” for his reluctance to sack Mr Zahawi.

The Daily Express says the Russian president threatened that he could kill Mr Johnson in a minute after the former prime minister visited Kyiv last February.

Mr Zahawi has lashed out at the media instead of apologising for not reporting his HMRC fine of £5 million, Metro says.

And Pamela Anderson had originally planned to be a librarian before becoming a Baywatch star, reports the Daily Star.