SUNAK IS FACING PROBE ON WIFE’S SHARES MILLIONS
Labour MP calls in the watchdog
RISHI Sunak’s decision not to declare a large part of his wife’s fortune has been brought to the attention of the Government’s ethics watchdog.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi has asked Committee on Standards in Public Life chair Lord Evans to examine whether the Chancellor had breached the ministerial code by failing to register the riches.
Mr Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, has a £430million shareholding in Infosys, an IT firm founded by her father, according to The Guardian.
The Chancellor did not mention this in his entry in the official register, nor her shareholdings in at least six UK companies, the paper claimed.
Ministers are required to declare any financial interests that might be relevant to their role, which includes those of their close family members.
Ms Antoniazzi wrote to Lord Evans: “The reports around the Chancellor’s financial affairs are extremely concerning, and I am writing to ask you to assess whether this is a direct contravention of the ministerial code of conduct.”
Shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, said the revelations raised “serious questions”. Mr Sunak is understood to have met the Government’s ethics chief Helen MacNamara last year, before he was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to discuss his financial interests.
She confirmed at the time and again recently that she was satisfied with his entry in the register.
The Treasury said: “The Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial interests has confirmed he is completely satisfied with the Chancellor’s propriety of arrangements and that he has followed the ministerial code to the letter.”