explaining why he allowed the uk to take part in military action in yemen without first holding a commons debate. rishi sunak has faced criticism for not allowing mps to hold a discussion before britainjoined the us in bombing raids on houthi rebels who have been targeting commercial shipping in the red sea. our political correspondent leila nathoo has the story. rishi sunak has made his case that joining us air strikes on houthi targets in yemen on thursday night was an act of self defence to protect global shipping, that britain could not stand by while fighters defied warnings to stop their attacks on commercial vessels in the red sea, like this one they filmed. there has been broad political support for this limited action, but today mps will get their first chance to question the prime minister about his decision and what happens next. he ll have to address concerns about the escalation of tensions in the region, about the uk being drawn into a longer military campaign a
mr sunak said his working assumption is that a poll will be held in the second half of 202a. labour say he s delaying a vote because the tories are unpopular. here s mr sunak earlier. my working assumption is we will have a general election in the second half of this year, and in the meantime i have got lots that i want to get on with. this saturday, we will be introducing a significant tax cut for millions of people in work, worth on average £450 for an average worker, because we have halved inflation and we want to keep managing the economy well and cutting people s taxes. and i also want to keep tackling illegal migration. we cut the number of arrivals last year by over a third, but we have got more to do and we plan to get the rwanda scheme through parliament and up and running. so i have got plenty to get on with and that is what i am focusing on doing, delivering for the british people and it is great to be talking to people here in the east midlands about our progress
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the prime minister had asked his ethics adviser to investigate. sir laurie magnus reported back this morning. his findings were highly critical. in a letter to rishi sunak he said from april 2021 nadhim zahawi should have understood that he was under investigation by hmrc. he went on to say that nadhim zahawi failed to disclose relevant information, in this case the nature of the investigation and it outcome of a penalty. he concluded that his admissions amounted to a serious failure to meet the high standards set out in the ministerial code. in a one page letter, the prime minister sealed nadhim zahawi s fate. he said it was clear there had been a serious breach of the ministerial code and that he was sacked from the government. the ethics adviser was also critical of what he labelled an untrue statement from nadhim zahawi, that he echoed in an interview last july. i was clearly being smeared. i was being told that the serious fraud office, that hmrc are looking into me. i m