Rishi Sunak news - live: Chancellor defends wife over non-dom tax status as Labour demands answers
Murty is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds
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Your support makes all the difference.Chancellor Rishi Sunak has defended his wife, billionaire Akshata Murty, over her tax-reducing non-domiciled status after Labour demanded answers whether he himself benefitted from her status.
Mr Sunak said his wife had done nothing wrong in choosing a financial arrangement that means she is not legally obliged to pay tax in Britain on foreign income.
He has blamed Labour for the “awful” smears against his family, saying: “She hasn’t broken any rules”.
This comes after the party demanded the Chancellor to answer 12 central questions about whether he personally benefited from Ms Murty’s tax arrangement.
Ms Murty, daughter of the Indian businessman Narayana Murthy, is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
Meanwhile, The Telegraph reported that unnamed allies of the Chancellor claimed the Prime Minister’s office was behind the leaks – an allegation No 10 and No 11 strongly denied.
A No 10 spokeswoman told the PA news agency: “It is categorically untrue that No 10 is behind the briefings.”
“The Prime Minister and Chancellor are united.”
‘She hasn’t broken any rules’: Rishi Sunak breaks silence over wife’s non-dom status
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‘Public entitled to know about’ chancellor’s family’s tax affairs, Starmer says
Sir Keir Starmer has again urged Rishi Sunak to “come clean” about his family’s tax affairs.
Speaking at the launch of his party’s local election campaign in Barnet, north London, the Labour leader said: “What the chancellor needs to do is to just come clean.
“If the chancellor wants to make the political argument to the country that he's got no alternative to put taxes up at the very time when people are really struggling, prices are up, inflation is up.
"If the chancellor's family, at the same time, are using schemes to reduce their own household tax, then the public are entitled to know about that.”
He added: “At the moment, it looks to me very much like one rule for them and another rule for everybody else.”
Grant Shapps grounds Russian oligarch’s private jet
In other developments, the transport secretary has grounded a private jet owned by Russian billionaire Eugene Shvidler as part of sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced that he has deregistered the aircraft, meaning any certificates in place to permit it to fly in the UK have been suspended.
The Cessna aircraft with the tail registration G-LATO is at Biggin Hill Airport, south-east London, where it was due to undergo maintenance and repairs.
Grant Shapps bans Russian oligarch’s private jet from flying
Aircraft owned by billionaire Eugene Shvidler ‘deregistered’, says transport secretary
Sunak must ‘come clean’ on family tax affairs
Our politics reporter Adam Forrest has this:
Labour leader Keir Starmer has said Rishi Sunak must “come clean” about his family’s tax affairs following revelations about his wife’s tax-reducing non-domiciled status.
“There is no argument to say those who have had their taxes increased aren’t entitled even to know if the chancellor’s family … are making use of schemes to reduce their own tax burden,” he said.
“There are simple questions, we need simple answers from the chancellor has his family.”
Starmer also said: “I think as we’ve seen in the last few days, I think the Sunaks will probably be alright in this cost-of-living crisis.”
He added: “At least we’ve solved one mystery that’s been alluding me for the last few days - we now know why the chancellor calls himself a tax-cutting chancellor.”
Watch: Thornberry says Labour smear campaign against Sunak is ‘nonsense’
Shapps: ‘No suggestion Sunak breached rules and regulations’
Conservative MPs appear to be defending Rishi Sunak by pushing the message that the chancellor and his wife have not broken the law over their household finances.
Asked about the situation by the BBC on Friday, transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “I don’t think it’s really appropriate for me to comment on the wives and families of politicians.”
And he said: “The most important thing is that the same rules apply to everyone. There is no suggestion that any of this steps outside of the rules and regulations.”
It comes after senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood suggested the rules around non-dom taxes needed reviewing, rather than blaming Mr Sunak.
“Every minister, when you enter government, has to make a declaration ... which is confirmed to be legal before you can take up the post, so there’s nothing illegal about what’s bee done by the chancellor whatsoever,” he told Sky News earlier.
The chancellor came under intense scrutiny after The Independent revealed this week his wife, Akshata Murthy, avoids paying UK taxes through her non-dom status.
Khan ‘won’t hide from fact’ he lost faith in Met’s Cressida Dick
Sadiq Khan says he is not “going to hide from the fact” he lost confidence in outgoing Metropolitan Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick.
Speaking at the launch of Labour’s local election campaign in Barnet, north London, the London mayor said:
“In the recent past, she’s worked with many others to help us reduce violent crime but I’m not going to hide from the fact that I lost confidence in her.
“I’m not going to hide from the fact that we’ve had in our city a series of devastating scandals, overt racism, sexism, discrimination, homophobia, we’ve had trust and confidence from Londoners in the police service at rock bottom.
“It’s one of the reasons why I lost confidence in her and it’s one of the things I’ll be looking for in a new commissioner, how they will address some of these serious issues that, frankly speaking, the current commissioner failed to address.”
Dame Cressida quit after Mr Khan criticised her handling of racist, misogynist and homophobic messages shared by a group of officers based at Charing Cross police station and after a series of other scandals faced by the Met.
Her resignation, which came hours after she said in a media interview she had no intention of quitting, was greeted with dismay by many officers.
Dame Cressida’s last day in post will be on Sunday, after which she will take unused annual leave, with her final day of employment being 24 April.
Germany’s Scholz arrives at No 10 for talks on Ukraine with PM
German chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived at Downing Street within the last half an hour for talks with Boris Johnson on reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas following the attack on Ukraine.
The UK prime minister greeted Mr Scholz at the door of No 10 at 2.13pm on Friday.
Mr Scholz smiled and nodded at reporters gathered outside before shaking hands with Mr Johnson.
They are set to hold a press conference later this afternoon, after talks behind closed doors.
Sunak: Wife’s non-dom tax status ‘not unusual’, claims minister
Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his allies have hit out at “unpleasant smears” as he came under scrutiny over his wife’s tax-reducing non-domiciled status, while No 10 denied being behind the leaks.
Ms Murty, who married the chancellor in 2009, has confirmed she paid £30,000 to hold non-dom status after The Independent revealed the arrangement earlier this week.
Mr Sunak has blamed Labour for the tax details emerging, but his allies have told newspapers that they suspect No 10 of trying to undermine the chancellor – who has been seen as a favourite to succeed Boris Johnson in any leadership challenge. A No 10 spokeswoman denied the PM’s office was sharing any details.
Adam Forrest has more:
Rishi Sunak’s wife’s non-dom tax arrangements ‘not unusual’, claims minister
Questions about tax arrangements ‘bit unpleasant’, says Greg Hands
Dame Cressida warns against ‘politicisation of policing’ in final days as commissioner
Outgoing Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick has warned against the “politicisation of policing”, saying this is “a threat not just to policing but to trust in the whole criminal justice system”.
She left Scotland Yard for the final time this morning - though her official end of employment date with the Met is 24 April - and was applauded by officers as she walked out.
Sky’s Scott Beasley reports:
In a “letter to London”, which she wrote to mark the end of her post, Dame Cressida said:
“Of course as I look back there is more I wish we had achieved. We hear the criticism, know not everyone has confidence in us to provide a good service when they need us, and have seen among us those whose horrific actions have let you all, and us, down so terribly.
“Each one drives us to get better, to root out those who don’t uphold our standards and don’t deserve to wear our uniform. To improve our response so all our communities feel protected by us.
“We are listening and acting on what you tell us so we can change for the better. Just this week we launched our violence against women and girls plan, shaped by the views of hundreds of Londoners.
“The current politicisation of policing is a threat not just to policing but to trust in the whole criminal justice system. Operational independence from local and central government is crucial for an effective democracy and is a model respected around the world. We must all treasure and protect it.”
Watch: Starmer says Sunak must ‘come clean’ on family tax affairs
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