It’s time for answers on Zahawi’s tax dispute

Rishi Sunak was not talking about the tax affairs of Nadhim Zahawi when he said this month that he believes “transparency is really important for the healthy functioning of democracy” – but the words nevertheless ring true.

Mr Zahawi is right to have said there is “confusion” surrounding his finances. The Independent has been seeking answers since last July, when we revealed that the current Conservative Party chair was subject to an investigation by HMRC linked to the sale of shares in polling company YouGov. The questions we asked at the time were met with threats of legal action from Mr Zahawi, although his statement this weekend about his tax affairs was altogether different in its wording.

Addressing reports of an estimated £5m tax settlement – said to include a “million-pound” fine – Mr Zahawi said that HMRC had concluded that he had made a “careless and not deliberate” error, and that the dispute had been settled before he was appointed chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and subsequently chair of the Conservative Party.

Labour has described the statement as “carefully worded”, which is true enough. It does not confirm whether or not Mr Zahawi paid a fine, and certainly does not bring the matter to a close. Labour has also called on Mr Zahawi to publish his tax returns for the last five years in the name of clarity – and he would be wise to do so.

First, it would help to dispel this “confusion” that he speaks of, as well as a sense that has been growing since the days of Boris Johnson’s premiership that the Conservatives are working to a different set of rules from the rest of the country.

Second, if Mr Sunak is happy to release his own tax returns, as he pledged to last year, then why not a member of his cabinet?

It is clear that the situation cannot continue as it has: the former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has advised Mr Zahawi to “get it all out now and clear it out”. If this lack of transparency persists, Mr Sunak needs to intervene. The prime minister spoke repeatedly, on taking up office, about the need for “integrity” within the government – he cannot stand on the sidelines now that the moment to enforce that objective is here. Given the trials many are facing over the cost of living, there will be little sympathy for the idea that Mr Zahawi can be “careless” over sums that reach into millions of pounds.

The way the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, handled the media round on Sunday offered little hope that the Conservatives are taking lessons from their leader. He told the BBC “I’m not an investigator,” and said that he did not know more than what was contained in Mr Zahawi’s statement. He added that it was up to Mr Zahawi how much information he released to the public. This does not wash. Mr Cleverly cannot agree that ministers have an “enhanced duty of transparency” and then offer nothing towards that end.

The Conservatives may be of the belief that this will all blow over in due course. Given that we have already been waiting for answers for months, Mr Sunak and his government should disabuse themselves of any such notion. Avoidance and carefully couched statements aren’t going to satisfy voters: the public need proper answers.