Support for Rishi as ‘force for good’
RISHI Sunak has been a “remarkable force for good” in British politics, a Government minister has said, as Labour continued to press for the Chancellor to come clean about his family’s tax affairs.
Policing Minister Kit Malthouse acknowledged the disclosure that Mr Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, was ‘non domiciled’ in the UK for tax purposes was “not ideal”.
However, he said the Chancellor was a “smart, clever, committed politician” who had helped to steer the economy through the worst of the pandemic.
His defence came after it emerged that Mr Sunak had ordered a Whitehall inquiry into who leaked details of Ms Murty’s tax status to the media, triggering a furious political outcry.
For Labour, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said that it was a matter of “basic fairness” that the Chancellor’s family should pay tax in the same way as everyone else and should not enjoy “special arrangements” to reduce their bills.
“I don’t think the Chancellor gets that. That raises real questions about his judgment,” she told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme.
Ms Murty, who remains an Indian citizen, dramatically announced on Friday that she would now pay UK taxes on all her worldwide income as she did not want her tax status to be a distraction for her husband.
It has been estimated that her ‘non domiciled’ status could have saved her £20 million in taxes on dividends from her shares in Infosys, an Indian IT company founded by her father.
Mr Malthouse said it was “not a brilliant time” for the details to come out when the country was struggling with a cost of living crisis, but added that she had now “corrected” the situation.
With some Tory MPs questioning whether any hopes Mr Sunak harboured of becoming prime minister have been dashed by the disclosures, Mr Malthouse denied that his career was “toast”.
Mr Malthouse said: “Rishi Sunak has been a remarkable force for good in this country over the last two years.
“He put in place some incredible support schemes during the pandemic at enormous speed.”
Ultimately, however, Mr Malthouse said that Mr Sunak’s own political future was of “secondary importance” to what happened to the UK economy.
“It is not ideal, but we all, when we sign up for this job, know that there are going to be rough times and smooth times,” he told the BBC.
“The key thing is that he remains committed to the job that he is doing, which is to steer the British economy and its people through some very, very difficult and challenging moments.
“What happens to him in the future will be of secondary importance to what happens to the country.”
There is likely to be relief among Mr Sunak’s allies at the way Mr Malthouse, a long-standing ally of Boris Johnson, spoke out yesterday in support of the Chancellor.