Rishi Sunak has written to the prime minister to ask for an investigation into his own affairs after days of criticism over his wife’s “non dom” tax status and lack of transparency over their financial affairs. The chancellor wrote to Boris Johnson asking him for a referral to Lord Geidt, the independent adviser, requesting a review of all his declarations since becoming a minister in 2018. Sunak said he was confident it would find “all relevant information was properly declared” on the advice of officials. It follows criticism that his entry on the list of ministers’ interests contains no mention of Akshata Murty’s £690m stake in Indian company Infosys – which has UK government contracts.
He is also facing scrutiny over his investments held in a blind management arrangement, with his spokesperson declining to say which jurisdiction they are held in or when the arrangement was formed. Sunak has come under pressure over whether his decision to keep a US green card conferring permanent residency for 19 months while chancellor represents a conflict of interest with his UK government role. However, the inquiry requested by Sunak will cover only his ministerial career, and there is still a mystery over his lack of any declaration of financial interests from the time he became an MP in 2015 until 2018, when he became a minister and formed a blind management arrangement.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has also written to Johnson and Geidt with a detailed series of questions, including: Whether Sunak had ever benefited from the use of tax havens. Whether he had received any updates on his blind trust since becoming chancellor. Whether Sunak made a legal promise to the US when he received his green card that it was his permanent residence, and, if so, whether he was legally a permanent US resident when he entered parliament and became a minister. Whether the chancellor and his family would provide “full transparency” on all their overseas income and where they pay tax on it. It comes after Sunak was criticised for “whingeing” about the leak of his wife’s non-dom tax status after he ordered a Whitehall inquiry and raised concerns the unauthorised disclosure could be a criminal offence. Labour criticised the chancellor for complaining about the “smears” and insisting on an inquiry into the leak, instead of addressing the criticism of his family avoiding tax while he puts up taxes and cuts benefits in real terms this month. An investigation by the Treasury and Cabinet Office is also under way after details of Murty’s tax details were given to the Independent. Her status as non-domiciled has allowed her to legally avoid about £20m of UK taxes on dividends from the Indian IT company founded by her billionaire father on the understanding that her long-term permanent domicile is in India. Sunak initially responded to the story by saying it was a “smear”, but late on Friday Murty issued a statement saying she would in future pay UK tax on worldwide earnings.
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said that “whingeing Rishi simply doesn’t get it”. “Tomorrow he imposes biggest real terms cut to pension for 50 years. Tomorrow he imposes severe real terms cuts to support like universal credit. But he’s more bothered about settling scores for exposing him after days of obfuscating,” he said. Labour is expected to increase criticism of Sunak this week, raising questions about his lack of transparency and potential for conflicts of interest. The Liberal Democrats have also drawn up draft legislation aimed at forcing the chancellor and any other government ministers to reveal whether they or their spouses claim non-domiciled status or have holdings in overseas tax havens. Sunak was strongly defended on Sunday by Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, who said the chancellor had been a “remarkable force of good” by bringing in the furlough scheme during the pandemic. However, Malthouse also admitted that the leak had been “not ideal” for Sunak.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said people should expect Sunak’s household to be treated the same as ordinary households without “special arrangements that reduce the tax that they pay”. But she also held back from repeating Labour’s previous pledges to scrap non-dom status, which were made under Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn, with the policy now “under review”.