Now tac chief damn Zahawi: We don't fine innocent people

Nadhim Zahawi did not make an “innocent error” in his tax affairs, the head of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has suggested, raising fresh questions about the cabinet minister’s £1m fine. The Tory chair claims officials judged his error to have been “careless and not deliberate”. But James Harra, HMRC chief executive, told a cross-party group of MPs yesterday that “there are no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs”, making clear that his organisation did not fine anyone deemed to have taken “reasonable care”. Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner repeated her call for Mr Zahawi to be sacked, saying his “excuses are continuing to unravel”. Prime minister Rishi Sunak is said to be “livid” over the affair, and a growing number of Tory MPs and peers are keen for the Tory chair to resign now rather than wait for the outcome of the No 10 ethics investigation. Tory backbencher Nigel Mills said that Mr Zahawi’s position was untenable: “Another day and it looks like it’s getting worse for him. It looks like his somewhat unclear statement [on Saturday] about a simple mistake is not holding water.”