Sir Laurie’s investigation certainly did its job, digging out damning new facts that removed the ambiguity over whether the minister had done anything wrong. We now know that HMRC’s probe into Mr Zahawi’s taxes began more than a year earlier than previously thought, and that he repeatedly hid the details of his dispute and the penalty he paid to resolve it from civil servants and three successive prime ministers.
The Prime Minister is not entirely out of trouble, however; he still faces questions over the future of his deputy, Dominic Raab, who is embroiled in his own ethics probe, as well as why he did reappointed Suella Braverman just days after she was found to have broken the ministerial code. One reason he clung on so long may be that he is generally popular and respected among Conservative MPs, both for his gregarious personal manner and his successful work overseeing the Covid vacciness programme.
HugoGye .RishiSunak said that he'd publish his tax returns by Christmas. It's almost February. Where are they? 🧐 TaxDoesntHaveToBeTaxing 😉
HugoGye Should have done it last week then.
HugoGye This investigation was completed quite quickly so, why on earth, is Dominic Raab’s ethics investigation taking so long? Sure, potentially much more to investigate but the investigator must have some idea, by now, if there is likely to be a case to answer.