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

‘Keep families out of it’: Johnson dodges question on Sunak wife tax affairs

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.”

[8 April 2022 18:14 · Andy Gregory]

Sunak admission ‘begs further questions’, Labour MP says

Rishi Sunak confirming he held a US green card while chancellor “begs further questions”, Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden has said.

“Why did he keep a Green Card for so long while being a UK MP?,” Mr McFadden said. “Was there any tax advantage in doing so? And why did he give this up after holding it for so long?

“Throughout the country households are struggling with the deepest cost of living crisis in decades. Their bills are going up, their taxes are going up and they are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet.

“The arrangements revealed this week are not open to them.”

[8 April 2022 18:30 · Andy Gregory]

UK households more worried about money than at any time in past 10 years, study suggests

Households in the UK are more pessimistic about their finances now than at any other time in the last decade, according to a new study.

“With inflation hitting 6.2 per cent in February on the CPI (consumer prices index) measure, the cost-of-living crisis has well and truly arrived in the UK, which goes some way to explaining the dismay expressed by households looking at their financial situation,” said Kay Neufeld, of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which carried out the survey with YouGov.

“The limited measures announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak in the spring statement have evidently failed to reassure the majority of consumers.”

[8 April 2022 18:45 · Andy Gregory]

Scottish Government brands Homes for Ukraine scheme ‘inadequate'

The Scottish Government has branded Whitehall’s Homes for Ukraine scheme “unacceptable” and “inadequate” after it emerged just 570 visas relating to Scottish sponsors have been issued.

Data published on Friday showed that 43,600 applications have been made by Ukrainians seeking safety, of which the Home Office has issued 570 visas for refugees to stay in Scotland.

Just 40 of these were issued under Scotland’s “super sponsor” arrangements – which remove the need for applicants to be matched with hosts prior to travelling to the UK.

Neil Gray, the Scottish Government's minister with special responsibility for refugees and Ukraine, said: “Scotland stands ready to provide immediate safety and sanctuary to Ukrainians displaced as a result of this illegal war, but these latest figures lay bare the glacial pace at which the UK government is moving to approve visas.

“To grant just 40 visas through the Scottish super sponsor route – a tiny fraction of those Ukrainians who have applied under the scheme – is simply unacceptable, and is wholly inadequate in providing immediate help to displaced people from Ukraine in need of safety.”

[8 April 2022 19:00 · Andy Gregory]

Boris Johnson refuses to rule out triggering Article 16

Boris Johnson has refused to rule out triggering Article 16 of Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol, and hinted at disagreement with the German Chancellor on the issue.

Appearing alongside Olaf Scholz at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Johnson said he had raised the issue. Asked about Article 16, the PM told reporters: “We had discussion about this, as you can expect. It came up. I think I raised it.”

He went on to say the result of the discussion was “entirely predictable”, adding: “The almost seamless harmony that you have observed between Britain and Germany today I would not wish in any way to interrupt by going into that any further.

“But what I will say is that, to answer your question ‘would we take that off the table?’ the use of Article 16, no clearly not, there is a problem.”

But he said the pair, who smiled and nodded along in agreement with each other at points throughout the briefing, are united on “virtually every other issue” of policy.

[8 April 2022 19:15 · Andy Gregory]

Exclusive: Rishi Sunak ‘listed in tax haven as trust beneficiary’ while chancellor

Our economics editor Anna Isaac reports:

Rishi Sunak has been listed as a beneficiary of tax haven trusts while chancellor, according to documents seen by The Independent.

Trusts in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, created to help manage the tax and business affairs of his wife Akshata Murty’s family interests, note the chancellor as a beneficiary in 2020, according to people familiar with Ms Murty’s financial affairs and evidence reviewed by this publication.

Documents seen by The Independent show trusts linked to Ms Murty, her family and companies linked to their businesses. In a number of them, Mr Sunak was listed as a beneficiary.

A spokesperson for Mr Sunak said they “did not recognise” the claims on use of tax havens, while a spokesperson for Ms Murty declined to comment. They previously claimed that she was a non-dom as a result of being an Indian citizen, though experts pointed out that use of the tax status was her choice.

You can read the full exclusive report here:

[8 April 2022 19:22 · Andy Gregory]

Breaking: Rishi Sunak’s wife to pay UK tax on foreign earnings

Akshata Murty has announced that she will pay UK tax on her foreign earnings.

Speaking of her non-domicile tax status, as revealed by The Independent on Wednesday, Ms Murty said “it has become clear that many do not feel it is compatible with my husband’s role as chancellor.

“I understand and appreciate the British sense of fairness and I do not wish my tax status to be a distraction for my husband or to affect my family”.

Here is her statement:

[8 April 2022 19:57 · Andy Gregory]

Akshata Murty’s new tax arrangements ‘will begin immediately'

In her statement, Akshata Murty said she “will no longer be claiming the remittance basis for tax”, adding: “This means I will now pay UK tax on an arising basis on all my worldwide income, including dividends and capital gains, wherever in the world that income arises.

“I do this because I want to, not because the rules require me to.”

Ms Murty said that “these new arrangements will begin immediately and will also be applied to the tax year just finished”.

My colleague Adam Forrest has more details on this breaking story:

[8 April 2022 20:15 · Andy Gregory]

Labour calls for ‘full transparency’ over Rishi Sunak’s tax haven links

Responding to The Independent’s report on documents showing Rishi Sunak was named as a beneficiary of tax haven trusts while chancellor, Labour’s shadow chief Treasury secretary, said: “This is extremely serious.”

Pat McFadden said: “We need urgent answers from the chancellor as to why he has been linked to a tax haven.

“We need full transparency about this and the other stories about the chancellor emerging over the past 24 hours.”

[8 April 2022 20:37 · Andy Gregory]

Here’s Labour’s shadow health secretary’s response to today’s events:

[8 April 2022 20:51 · Andy Gregory]

DUP leader claims ‘unwavering support’ for unionists to unite against NI Protocol

To Northern Ireland for a moment, where the DUP leader has said there is “unwavering support” from the electorate for unionist leaders standing together against the Northern Ireland Protocol.

In County Armagh, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and TUV leader Jim Allister addressed the latest rally to be held against the post-Brexit protocol, which Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie had pulled out of – expressing concern that the rallies were raising tensions.

“We must stand united. We must stand as one in opposition to the protocol,” Sir Jeffrey said.

“Unionism is fully entitled to express its unequivocal opposition to the protocol in a public and peaceful way. The protocol has undemocratically altered Northern Ireland's constitutional position and dealt a hammer blow to prosperity in all corners of our province.

“Not a single unionist representative supports the Irish Sea border. Our opponents see the election on 5 May as an opportunity to weaken Unionism and divide the anti-protocol cause. If they succeed, they will use the result to justify the status quo and force the government to do nothing. We cannot allow that to happen.”

Sir Jeffrey also reiterated his stance that his party participating in the next Stormont Executive depends on the government taking steps to remove the protocol.