Nadhim Zahawi has been sacked from Government by the Prime Minister after he was found to have committed a grave violation of ministerial rules.
The Tory chairman’s departure comes as a consequence of a frenzied row over his tax affairs after he was revealed to have paid a penalty to HMRC as part of a tax bill.
The sum given over to the tax authorities by Mr Zahawi is said to be at least £4.8 million, including a £1.1 million fine.
The revelation Mr Zahawi paid a fine to HMRC forced Rishi Sunak, who is claimed to be livid at the controversy, to this week’s order for an investigation by his ethics advisor, Sir Laurie Magnus.
Sir Laurie Magnus has now ruled against Mr Zahawi for failing to properly disclose the tax controversy when he was appointed to various Government positions.
He outlined multiple infringements of ministerial rules by Mr Zahawi in a damning four-page report.
Sir Laurie blasted the departed Cabinet minister for failing to reverse a prior public denial that he was being investigated by HMRC.
Sir Laurie’s findings left Rishi Sunak with little choice but to sack Mr Zahawi from his Cabinet.
After being sacked, Mr Zahawi promised his support to Rishi Sunak from the back benches of the House of Commons, but he also lashed out at media coverage of his tax disgrace and delivered an apology to his family for the toll this had taken on them.
The dramatic conclusion of the row over Mr Zahawi will come as a massive disappointment to the Prime Minister, who’s expected to celebrate his first 100 days in No 10.
Rishi Sunak is also continuing to face questions over the fate of Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who’s subject to a continuous investigation into bullying claims.
The Prime Minister promised to lead a Government with integrity, professionalism and accountability when he took office in October.
He’s also been left mortified after telling MPs earlier this month that the row over Mr Zahawi’s tax affairs had been addressed in full before being forced to order Sir Laurie’s inquiry.
In a damning four-page report to the Prime Minister on his findings, Sir Laurie announced that Mr Zahawi originally failed to declare he was subjected to an HMRC investigation when he was appointed Chancellor by Boris Johnson in July last year.
This was a role that put him in control of Britain’s tax system, and Sir Laurie said it could have led to claims of a possible conflict of interest.
It’s high time we the taxpayer, and employers of all these MPs laid down boundaries, with terms and conditions as it is for all employees – break the rules and you’re sacked, however, corruption seems to be the natural course of a government that’s had its feet under the desk for far too long.
Mr Zahawi always mentions being an immigrant and most people think that he was poor, but in fact, his family were affluent even before his family came to the United Kingdom.
Mr Zahawi was born in Baghdad, Iraq, to a prominent family from Khanaqin within the Kurdish Feyi tribe.
His father is Hareth Nadhim Al Zahawi, born in 1942, a British-Iraqi businessman who founded the Al-Zahawi Group, which after the US invasion of 2003 obtained a contract to provide logistics, cleaning and support services to the new US-led interim government.
Now known as IPBD (Iraq Project and Business Development), its interests have expanded to cover steel manufacturing and property growth, and generally supporting the reconstruction effort.
His father is also a director of Balshore Investments Limited, Gibraltar, and in 2022 was resident in Lebanon with his wife Najdat, both British citizens.
His paternal grandfather was Nadhim al-Zahawi, Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq from 1959 to 1960, and Minister of Trade.
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