in pakistan, killing at least 41 passengers. and, the princess of wales launches a new campaign close to her heart the importance of early childhood. the british prime minister, rishi sunak, has sacked the chairman of his conservative party, nadhim zahawi. his dismissal comes after an independent investigation of mr zahawi s tax affairs. these have been the subject of growing controversy since it emerged that he had to pay a penalty to the tax authorities. the prime minister said it had become clear that there has been a serious breach of the ministerial code . mr sunak received the report from sir laurie magnus, the independent adviser on ministers interests. sir laurie told the prime minister that certain omissions by mr zahawi fell short of the standards that ministers are expected to abide by. he concluded, i consider that these omissions constitute a serious failure to meet the standards set out in the ministerial code. i consider that mr zahawi, in holding the hi
expediting the license for authorising the use of weapons for civilians. a bus has plunged into a ravine in pakistan, killing at least 41 passengers. novak djokovic has won his tenth australian open tennis tournament, beating greece s stefanos tsitsipas in straight sets in the men s final. the british prime minister, rishi sunak, has sacked the chairman of his conservative party, nadhim zahawi. his dismissal comes after an independent investigation of mr zahawi s tax affairs. these have been the subject of growing controversy since it emerged that he had to pay a penalty to the tax authorities. the prime minister said the investigation made clear that there has been a serious breach of the ministerial code . mr sunak received the report from sir laurie magnus, the independent adviser on ministers interests. sir laurie told the prime minister that certain omissions by mr zahawi fell short of the standards that ministers are expected to abide by. he concluded, i consider t
coming from hmrc. lawrie magnus says he should have understood at the outset that he was under investigation. he talks about the fact that therefore this didn t come up in his declaration of interests, even when he became chancellor, the minister responsible for the tax and spend system, on the 6th ofjuly 2022 lawrie magnus critical of that, and he says that failing to declare that ongoing investigation before later injuly 2022 was a breach of the ministerial code. you also talks about the fact that we know now nadhim zahawi paid a penalty as part of his settlement with hmrc. lawrie magnus again saying failing to update his declaration of interests form appropriately once that penalty had been paid was not correct, not disclosing the right information, and he said sort of taken together these omissions constitute in lawrie magnus s words a serious failure to meet the standards set out in the ministerial code. also, lawrie magnus goes into the detail of an interview nadhim zahawi gave
also, lawrie magnus goes into the detail of an interview nadhim zahawi gave where he said that it was smears to say that hmrc were looking into him. lawrie magnus said this wasn t as open and transparent as a government minister is supposed to be. this report went to the prime minister and it looks like the prime minister took quite swift action on this. he wrote in this letter to nadhim zahawi that there has been a serious breach of the ministerial code. as a result, i have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in his majesty s government. this was all going on moments before michael gove, the government minister who was out on the airwaves this morning talking on behalf of the government, was on the laura kuenssberg programme. he had to immediately respond to this. here s what he had to say. when facts emerged about the position in which nadhim found himself, the prime minister said that we need an independent investigation. sir lawrie magnus who, as you pointe
rapidly at the situation. he concluded his report, wrote to the prime minister i think earlier today and then the prime minister immediately upon receipt of the letter decided that nadhim could no longer stay in the cabinet. but why seven days ago did nadhim zahawi and rishi sunak appear |to think that it was ok for somebody| who had paid a penalty to the taxman while being the boss- of the taxman to stay in post? because i think, to many of our| viewers, last week that seemed absolutely blatantly like something that wasn t sustainable. well, as ever, it s always important to make sure that all the facts are investigated fully and properly. and that is why sir lawrie magnus was given the opportunity to do so, why he has concluded as he did, and why the prime minister has acted as he did. as a general rule, i think it is important when allegations are raised that they are investigated promptly, but also we shouldn t rush tojudgment before there has been that investigation. and again