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Sunak moves goods out of Downing St
Mr Sunak has tried to muddy the waters around this LOUISE HAIGH ON RESPONSE TO TAX ROW
UNDER-FIRE Rishi Sunak moved some belongings out of Downing Street yesterday as he desperately clung on to his job as Chancellor.
Two vans took furniture and other property from the flat shared by Mr Sunak and wife Akshata Murty to their refurbished luxury West London pad.
A red velvet armchair and a shelving unit were among the items removed.
The family are making the move because their eldest daughter is about to go into her final term of primary school, the Sunday Mirror understands.
They want to be nearer to her school for the last few months before she goes to boarding school.
Mr Sunak is expected to split his evenings between his Downing Street flat and their Kensington home, but continue to work from No11.
The Chancellor had been seen as a shoo-in to one day move into No10 and replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
But his standing plummeted after his disastrous Spring Statement last month failed to help families being hammered by the growing cost-of-living crisis.
It took a further hit this week when it was revealed Ms Murty enjoyed non-dom tax status – and
Mr Sunak had held on to his Green Card as a “resident” of the United Sates for more than a year after becoming Chancellor.
Labour said Mr Sunak and his family potentially saved tens of millions of pounds through his wife’s non-dom status.
Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh accused him of not being transparent. “He has come out on a number of occasions to try and muddy the waters around this,” she said.
The Lib Dems meanwhile called for a ban on ministers’ partners being non-doms.
Ms Murty said on Friday she had opted to pay UK taxes on her global income as she did not want her arrangements to be a “distraction”.
She will keep her nondom status, allowing her to take advantage of India’s zero inheritance tax rate.
The SNP said Mr Sunak should publish his tax returns, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying he and his wife lived in a “completely different universe” to ordinary people.