Inside Politics: Unhappy returns

Sunak orders probe into Zahawi tax affair and BBC chairman says sorry to staff over Johnson credit line, writes Matt Mathers

(PA)

Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

A three-year-old boy who can count in seven different languages has become Britain’s youngest Mensa member.

Word has it he’s now been hired by the Commons to keep track of the number of prime ministers and chancellors we’ve had over the past 12 months.

Inside the bubble

Chief politics commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for:

Cabinet meeting this morning will be fun for Nadhim Zahawi, knowing his colleagues wonder how long he will be joining them. The Commons sits from 11.30 with health questions, followed by the remaining stages of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. Will Moy of Full Fact will give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee for its investigation of misinformation. Adrian Boyle of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and Chris Hopson, head of NHS England will give evidence on the crisis in the NHS to the Health and Social Care Committee. David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, has a big speech on Labour’s foreign policy at Chatham House at noon.

Daily briefing

Unhappy returns

Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, has asked his new ethics adviser to look into Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affair. Sunak says there are “clearly questions that need answering” and Zahawi, the Tory Party chairman and cabinet minister without portfolio, insists that he has all the answers. “I am confident I acted properly throughout,” he said yesterday. Sound familiar? Downing Street said Sunak did not know about a penalty paid by Zahawi when he defended him in the Commons last week, which on the surface only makes things look worse for the Stratford-on-Avon MP, who was reportedly denied a knighthood over the saga.

Sunak’s decision to order the probe buys both him and Zahawi some time and provides a holding line for the government after a flurry of revelations over the weekend and into yesterday morning. Expect to hear lots of “I can’t comment further while the investigation is ongoing” from ministers sent out to defend Zahawi – who says he is “absolutely” not resigning – on the broadcast round this morning and in the days ahead. Chris Philp, speaking to Times Radio earlier, said it was “right” Sunak had ordered the investigation into Zahawi. The Home Office minister said that, “as far as I’m aware”, the PM was not aware of any issue regarding Zahawi when he appointed him party chair in the summer.

That said, Sunak will still have to face his PMQs clash with Keir Starmer on Wednesday. He is likely to be tackled on the affair and branded “weak” for not immediately giving Zahawi his marching orders. The Labour Party has for weeks been trying to paint Sunak as a weak PM who is easily buffeted around by rowdy backbenchers, who are not fully reconciled either to him as a leader or his agenda. At a time when people are struggling with the cost of living crisis, you would expect Labour and other opposition parties to try to make hay out of the scandal. Anneliese Dodds, Zahawi’s opposite number, has already called for him to release his tax returns.

Sticking with Zahawi over the medium to long term will mean expending yet more political capital for a PM who has already had to climb down three times in the face of backbench revolts on fracking, wind farms and housing targets, not to mention several other scandals (think Dominic Raab and Suella Braverman). The case also puts his claim to be leading a government with “integrity” at its heart under more strain. It is a tricky position for Sunak and no doubt he and his advisers will be mulling their next move very carefully.

(PA)

Enjoying this newsletter?

Unlock unlimited, ad-free reading on the website and in The Independent app when you subscribe – plus, benefit from our welcome offer when you join today.

Sharp end of the deal

So far in Sunak’s premiership scandals feel a bit like London buses – you wait ages for one to show up and then a few arrive at once. Richard Sharp, the BBC chairman who it is claimed helped Boris Johnson secure an £800,000 credit line from his distant cousin, said sorry to staff yesterday after he asked the corporation’s board (which he, *checks notes*, chairs,) to review any possible conflicts of interests he may have over his ties to the former PM.

William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments, said he would review the way the competition for the post was run to ensure it complied with Whitehall rules. Labour had demanded inquiries into any conflicts of interest following a Sunday Times report that Sharp introduced the guarantor of Johnson’s loan, Canadian multimillionaire Sam Blyth, to the cabinet secretary Simon Case.

Like the case of Zahawi, this one is a hangover from the Johnson administration that has landed on Sunak’s desk – one that again demonstrates the former PM’s capacity to cause problems for anyone who has been sucked into his orbit. It is also a bad look for Tim Davies, the BBC’s director-general, who has put impartiality – and even perceptions of impartiality – right at the heart of his agenda.

Other candidates who applied for Sharp’s job might be, quite rightly, questioning the impartiality of the process given the revelations about the credit facility and reports that Sharp had dinner with Johnson and Blyth at Chequers before the credit line was finalised in the weeks before he was recommended for the BBC job by the then-prime minister. Johnson, for his part, insisted there was nothing to see here, describing the story as “absolute nonsense”. But the appointment has also sparked a bit of a debate about whether it is right that politicians get to pick who runs important culture institutions such as the BBC.

On the record

Zahawi responds to PM’s decision to ask No 10 ethics adviser to investigate his tax case.

“I am confident I acted properly throughout. In order to ensure the independence of this process, you will understand that it would be inappropriate to discuss this issue any further, as I continue my duties as chairman of the Conservative and Unionist Party.”

From the Twitterati

George Parker, FT politics editor, on Zahawi case.

“Real frustration in No 10 over this, notably the failure of ⁦@nadhimzahawi⁩ to give ⁦@RishiSunak⁩ full facts before PMQs last week. If the PM has to set up an inquiry ‘to get to the bottom of this’, it doesn’t look great.”

Essential reading

• Marie Le Conte, The Independent: The chancellor holds the key to the crises facing Britain – so where is he?
• Alastair Campbell, The Independent: The BBC must turn the spotlight on itself or risk damaging its reputation
• William Hague, The Times: Watch out Rishi Sunak, low-tax loons are circling
• David A Graham, The Atlantic: A guide to the possible forthcoming indictments of Donald Trump

Inside Politics first appeared in our daily morning email. You can sign up via this link.