Sunak’s PM Chances ‘Damaged’ by Wife’s Taxes Row as Whitehall Reportedly Probes ‘Red Throat’ Leak
05:46 GMT 10.04.2022 (Updated: 15:18 GMT 28.05.2023)
© REUTERS / JEFF OVERS/BBC / Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak appears on BBC's Sunday Morning presented by Sophie Raworth in London
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Rishi Sunak has found himself drawn into a furore over his finances since it was reported that his multi-millionaire wife benefited from tax-reducing non-domiciled status, while he was also listed as a beneficiary of British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands trusts created to manage Akshata Murty’s wealthy family’s business affairs.
Rishi Sunak’s chances of potentially becoming UK Prime Minister have been decimated, senior Conservatives, cited by The Observer, believe.
They also anticipate that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be removed in the nearest Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in the summer or autumn, in the wake of the scandal over his multimillionaire wife’s tax affairs and their US green cards.
A recent Opinium poll for the Observer showed that Sunak’s approval rating had plummeted to a new low of -15. That makes make him only slightly less unpopular than the PM himself, who has been dogged by scandals, and more recently, the fallout from a row over lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street.
Several months ago, when “partygate” hit the headlines, Sunak was looked upon as a favourite to succeed Johnson if the PM was toppled. Now, with Sunak’s woes coming alongside those of the embattled Johnson, Conservative MPs are said to be concerned over the UK Tory Party’s future chances, as two leading figures have lost respect among voters. One ex-Tory minister told the outlet that many MPs with small majorities are increasingly apprehensive.
“The worry is that this is symptomatic of a party in terminal decline and that we are in a death spiral… That is the concern of colleagues with small majorities”, said the ex-minister.
Referring to the controversy that Rishi Sunak has found himself mired in, the ex-minister added:
“He has shown colossal naivety and the way he has arranged his affairs does not suggest he is even committed to the UK, but that he is keeping open the option of a career in finance in the United States”.
Sunak, who had displayed flawed judgement, was “damaged” by the recent scandal, thought a former Tory Cabinet minister, as cited by the publication. If a leadership contest were held in the coming months he would not stand a chance, he said.
A spokesperson for Rishi Sunak said they “did not recognise” the claims that the chancellor had been listed as beneficiary in tax havens., and added he might not be able to recover from the blowback.
“The timing is terrible. I think his problem is that taxes have gone up a lot in his period as chancellor, which is not popular in the party or country. And we have a cost-of-living crisis”.
Tax Havens & US Green Cards
Urgent answers have been demanded from Rishi Sunak after it was reported that he was listed as a beneficiary of trusts in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands set up to manage his wife’s business affairs. Sunak, who became Chancellor in February 2020, had also been noted that year in documents related to Akshata Murty’s wealthy family, according to sources cited by The Independent.
The UK Chancellor’s wife is the daughter of the billionaire founder of the Indian-headquartered company Infosys, worth approximately £690m, in which she holds a 0.9% stake.
A spokesperson for Rishi Sunak said they “did not recognise” the claims that the chancellor had been listed as a beneficiary in tax havens.
These reports came after it was revealed that Akshata Murty potentially avoided up to £20m in UK taxes over a period of seven and a half years due to her non-domiciled status.
However, after the UK Labour Party urged the chancellor to provide clarity on whether he had benefited from his wife’s status, Murty announced on Friday she would now be paying UK taxes on all her worldwide income, to avoid her financial arrangements becoming a “distraction” for her chancellor husband.
Further questions were raised amid reports that the chancellor and Murty had both held US green cards, meaning they had registered themselves as permanent residents in the US.
Having become chancellor in February 2020, Sunak had held a green card until around October 2021. Green card holders are obligated to pay US tax on their worldwide income.
"Rishi Sunak had a green card when he lived and worked in the US", said the chancellor’s spokeswoman on Friday, insisting it had been used for travel purposes.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of “breathtaking hypocrisy” for hiking up taxes while his wife “benefits” from non-dom status.
‘Red Throat’ Leak
Amid the scandal implicating Rishi Sunak, The Sunday Times reported on Saturday that a Whitehall leak inquiry had been opened to find out who revealed details of Murty’s tax status to the media.
The chancellor’s team purportedly believes it was a Labour-supporting official, which they have referred to as “red throat”, according to the outlet.
8 April 2022, 18:41 GMT
“There’s going to be a full Cabinet Office and HM Treasury investigation into who had that information and if anyone has requested that information. Divulging the tax status of a private individual is a criminal offence”, a senior government official was quoted as saying.
As reports also allude to an undercurrent of tension between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak after the chancellor offered “lukewarm” support to Johnson over the “partygate” row, a government source was cited as saying:
“I don’t see the PM resisting this opportunity to move Rishi now”.
Opposition parties are purportedly intent on piling further pressure on Sunak over in the coming weeks, with both Labour and the Liberal Democrats calling on Murty to pay back what she had saved over recent years.
