Sir Keir Starmer asked: 'Does the Prime Minister agree that any politician who seeks to avoid the taxes they owe in this country is not fit to be in charge of taxpayer money?'
said it should be obvious that someone who tries to avoid tax should not be in charge of tax but the PM said that “proper due process” must be adhered to and the government’s ethics adviser must be allowed to do their job.
The Prime Minister ordered his ethics adviser to investigate whether Mr Zahawi broke ministerial rules over the estimated £4.8 million bill he settled with HMRC while chancellor.Mr Sunak admitted there are "questions that need answering" as the inquiry was launched but it was unclear what he knew when appointing Mr Zahawi to the Cabinet-attending role.
Lord Evans suggested "trying to close down a legitimate public debate" would not live up to the Nolan principles on public life that must be upheld under the ministerial code. Senior Conservative MP Caroline Nokes has called on him to "stand aside until this matter is all cleared up" but Mr Sunak has so far stood by Mr Zahawi.
Downing Street subsequently suggested Mr Sunak did not know last week that Mr Zahawi had paid the reportedly 30% penalty to HMRC.
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