I acted ‘pretty decisively’ in Zahawi sacking – PM
RISHI Sunak has insisted he acted “pretty decisively” by sacking Nadhim Zahawi for breaching the ministerial code over his tax affairs as he vowed to restore “integrity” to politics.
The Prime Minister said he followed the “right process” as critics argued he should have acted sooner, and the ousted Tory chairman’s allies complained he was not allowed to make his case.
Beginning his fightback after the fiasco, Mr Sunak stressed “integrity is important to me” and promised to take “whatever steps are necessary to restore the integrity back into politics”.
But his spokesman said there are no plans to reform the system that allowed him to appoint Mr Zahawi while supposedly unaware of his HMRC settlement.
After a fortnight of pressure, Mr Sunak sacked the party chair on Sunday after ministerial interests adviser Sir Laurie Magnus delivered a damning verdict.
The Prime Minister said during a visit to County Durham on Monday: “On the basis of those facts I was able to make a very quick decision that it was no longer appropriate for Nadhim Zahawi to continue in Government.
“It relates to things that happened well before I was Prime Minister, so unfortunately I can’t change what happened in the past. What I did, as soon as I knew about the situation, was appoint someone independent, looked at it, got the advice and then acted pretty decisively.”
Mr Zahawi settled his £4.8m tax dispute with HMRC while he was chancellor under Boris Johnson.
No.10 insists Mr Sunak was not aware of any “outstanding issues” when he appointed him party chairman after becoming Prime Minister in October.
However, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said there are no plans to change the process requiring MPs to “declare all relevant interests” before their appointment.
“I’m not aware of any plans to change the longstanding approach which sees ministers be required to declare any relevant interests, abide by the ministerial code and face sanction if they fail to do so,” he said.
Allies of Mr Zahawi claim the MP had lost his job after being given only limited time to make his case, with the Telegraph citing claims suggesting he was only given a 30-minute meeting with the independent adviser to defend himself.
Figures inside Downing Street were disputing claims from those around Mr Zahawi, insisting there had been two conversations with Sir Laurie.
Mr Sunak’s spokesman said: “We did not set any time limit for the adviser and he was free to carry out the investigation to establish the facts, and conclude his work when he felt he had done so.
“He was able to speak to whoever he wished to in that process and we’re confident he established the facts.”
The official was forced to defend Mr Sunak’s decision to re-appoint Suella Braverman as Home Secretary just six days after she was forced out over a security breach.
“Suella Braverman resigned and acknowledged the mistake she made – she took accountability for her actions,” the spokesman said.
“It was on that basis that the Prime Minister subsequently chose to reappoint her.”
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab remains under investigation over alleged bullying of civil servants after an investigation was launched in November.
Mr Zahawi did not comment explicitly on the row in his letter to the Prime Minister following his sacking, instead taking aim at the media as he complained “about the conduct from some of the fourth estate in recent weeks”.