FT – Zahawi fights for political life over tax scandal as Sunak orders ethics review

The Financial Times says Mr Zahawi is fighting for his political life after Sunak ordered an ethics review into his tax affairs. The paper also reports that the government faces another ethics crisis with BBC chairman Richard Sharp under investigation over the process which led to his appointment.

The FT says Nadhim Zahawi was fighting for his political life on Monday after prime minister Rishi Sunak ordered an ethics inquiry into the tax affairs of the Conservative party chair.

Sunak’s support for Zahawi was highly conditional, after he declared that “there are questions that need answering” over Zahawi’s dispute with HM Revenue & Customs.

Downing Street said that Sunak had not known that Zahawi had paid a penalty to HMRC — part of an overall settlement of about £5mn — when the prime minister answered questions on the issue in the Commons last week.

https://www.ft.com/content/0178a0dd-f6be-43fc-b847-b4d8abf6a16e