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Hands replaces Zahawi as Tory chairman

Number 10 also confirmed business, energy and industrial strategy secretary Grant Shapps will be made energy security and net zero secretary in a newly created department…reports Asian Lite News

Greg Hands has replaced Nadhim Zahawi as Conservative Party chairman as Rishi Sunak begins the first reshuffle of his cabinet.

Former trade policy minister Hands, MP for Chelsea and Fulham, takes over the role that will involve leading the Tories through the next election.

His appointment comes just over a week after former chair Mr Zahawi was sacked over the handling of his tax affairs.

Number 10 also confirmed business, energy and industrial strategy secretary Grant Shapps will be made energy security and net zero secretary in a newly created department dedicated to securing the UK’s “long-term energy supply, bringing down bills and halving inflation”.

Shapps said he was “delighted” to become the first head of the new department.

Former Tory leadership contender Kemi Badenoch is to be moved from international trade secretary to business and trade secretary, taking over part of the job Shapps leaves vacant and maintaining her previous role.

She will remain president of the board of trade and minister for women and equalities.

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan is the new Secretary for Science, Innovation and Technology, another newly formed department.

And housing minister Lucy Frazer is now Culture, Media and Sport Secretary – with technology taken away from the role that Donelan had.

Hands is well-liked by fellow Tories and has been an MP since 2005, first in Hammersmith and Fulham, then Chelsea and Fulham since its creation in 2010.

Seen as a steady pair of hands, he has remained as a minister for the most part of the past eight years after first serving in David Cameron’s cabinet as chief secretary to the Treasury.

A staunch remainer, he was demoted by Theresa May to a junior minister at the Department for International Trade then was also made Minister for London.

He resigned in 2018 over his opposition to Heathrow’s third runway but Boris Johnson returned him to trade policy minister before promoting him to business, energy and clean growth minister.

Liz Truss made him trade policy minister days before she stepped down and Sunak kept him on.

The New York and UK state-school educated politician joined the Conservative Party as a student at Cambridge before spending eight years as a banker in London and New York.

A polyglot who speaks five European languages, Hands’ gained his campaigning experience fairly early on in his political career when he had to fight for the newly formed Chelsea and Fulham seat after his constituency was split in two.

As a Tory councillor in Hammersmith and Fulham before becoming an MP, he built up a formidable reputation as a local campaigner, with an impressive knowledge for knowing local people’s names and issues they stood for, Conservative Home reported in 2014.

As party chairman, he will be in charge of helping the Tories fight the next election, which at the moment they are predicted to lose to Labour.

He also served as a whip then deputy chief whip under Cameron so has experience in coordinating his fellow MPs – an essential to fight the next election.

He also ran the London mayoral campaign of Shaun Bailey, who was defeated comfortably by Sadiq Khan in 2021.

He is also noted for some off-piste tweets, including one praising Tesco for freezing the cost of its Meal Deal for five years. 

His wife, Irina Hundt, is German and in 2018 he revealed the impact of the Brexit vote on his family.

“My wife is German, my children are bilingual, and on the day of the referendum, or the day after, my son – who at the time was nine years old – cried over the result,” he told HuffPost.

“He didn’t really understand it. He may have thought that his mother and father would now be forced to separate.”

More recently he showed his loyalty to Sunak when his wife, Akshata Murty, came under pressure over her non-dom tax status. He suggested that there could be a racial element to the criticism, telling the BBC: ‘Some of the commentary about her being a foreign national has been unpleasant.’

More recently he has attracted the ire of China over a trade visit to Taiwan.

Beijing said the UK must ‘stop sending the wrong signals’ after he visited Taipei in November, becoming the latest foreign official to defy Beijing’s warnings over contacts with the island.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and threatens to annex it by force. It also seeks to isolate it diplomatically, requiring governments that it has formal relations with to respect its ‘one-China’ principle.

ALSO READ-The knives are out for Sunak

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Rishi flexes muscles to sack Zahawi

Zahawi had issued a statement on 21 January which attempted to clarify his tax affairs, including a settlement he paid to HMRC last year…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dismisses Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi following the independent ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus submitted his report.

The prime minister says it is “clear that there has been a serious breach of the Ministerial Code.” The prime minister ordered an investigation into Zahawi’s tax affairs after it emerged Zahawi paid a penalty to HMRC while he was chancellor, over previously unpaid tax. He was under pressure to fully explain the multi-million pound settlement.

Zahawi said when HMRC started asking questions he was under the impression he was “merely being asked certain queries by HMRC concerning his tax affairs.” But Sir Laurie found that Zahawi “should have understood at the outset that they were under investigation by HMRC and that this was a serious matter.”

Sir Laurie says Zahawi should have updated his declaration of interests form to reflect the investigation.

The PM got the report from his ethics adivser early this morning. He spoke to Zahawi to tell him he was being sacked, then it was confirmed publicly. The report from Sir Laurie Magnus left little room for any other conclusion than Zahawi’s departure.

Zahawi had said tax error was ‘careless and not deliberate’

Before he was sacked, Zahawi had issued a statement on 21 January which attempted to clarify his tax affairs, including a settlement he paid to HMRC last year.

“As a senior politician I know that scrutiny and propriety are important parts of public life,” Mr Zahawi claimed. “Twenty-two years ago I co-founded a company called YouGov. I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved. It is an amazing business that has employed thousands of people and provides a world-beating service. As a senior politician I know that scrutiny and propriety are important parts of public life. Twenty-two years ago I co-founded a company called YouGov. I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved. It is an amazing business that has employed thousands of people and provides a world-beating service.

“When we set it up, I didn’t have the money or the expertise to go it alone. So I asked my father to help. In the process, he took founder shares in the business in exchange for some capital and his invaluable guidance. Twenty-one years later, when I was being appointed chancellor of the exchequer, questions were being raised about my tax affairs. I discussed this with the Cabinet Office at the time.

“Following discussions with HMRC, they agreed that my father was entitled to founder shares in YouGov, though they disagreed about the exact allocation. They concluded that this was a ‘careless and not deliberate’ error. So that I could focus on my life as a public servant, I chose to settle the matter and pay what they said was due, which was the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, cabinet minister Michael Gove defended his former colleague.

“Nadhim is a friend of mine, so I can’t take any joy in the fact that these events have played out today in the way that they have,” he told BBC.

On the situation last summer at the time when Nadim Zahawi was paying his fine, Mr Gove said neither Liz Truss nor Rishi Sunak would have had any awareness of the situation.

“My understanding is that there was no information that was brought to the attention of the prime minister… neither Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss,” he said.

Asked how Mr Zahawi would feel about having threatened defamation action, Mr Gove said: “I am sure Nadim will be reflecting today on this whole question.”

Gove said the prime minister’s “way of operating” is driven by “a sense of duty and profound moral seriousness”.

You’re Fired

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sacked Tory party chairman Nadhim Zahawi, who was under pressure over his tax affairs. Here is the full text of the letter:

Dear Nadhim,

When I became Prime Minister last year, I pledged that the Government I lead would have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.

That is why, following new information which came to light in recent days regarding your personal financial arrangements and declarations, I asked Sir Laurie Magnus, the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, to fully investigate this matter. You agreed and undertook to cooperate fully with the inquiry.

Following the completion of the Independent Adviser’s investigation – the findings of which he has shared with us both – it is clear 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.

As you leave, you should be extremely proud of your wide-ranging achievements in government over the last five years. In particular, your successful oversight of the COVID-19 vaccine procurement and deployment programme which ensured the United Kingdom was at the forefront of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic. Your role was critical to ensuring our country came through this crisis and saved many lives. And as the Conservative Party Chairman, you have undertaken significant restructuring to Conservative Campaign Headquarters and readied us for important work in the coming months.

It is also with pride that I, and previous prime ministers, have been able to draw upon the services of a Kurdish-born Iraqi refugee at the highest levels of the UK government. That is something which people up and down this country have rightly valued.

I know I will be able to count on your support from the backbenches as you continue to passionately and determinedly serve your constituents of Stratford-on-Avon and represent the many issues and campaigns you are dedicated to. Thank you for your service to this and previous governments.

Yours sincerely,

Rishi Sunak

ALSO READ-Zahawi allows HMRC to pass tax details to ethics adviser

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Zahawi allows HMRC to pass tax details to ethics adviser

The row surrounding Zahawi centres on a tax bill over the sale of shares in YouGov – the polling firm he founded – worth an estimated £27 million and which were held by Balshore Investments…reports Asian Lite News

Nadhim Zahawi has authorised HM Revenue & Customs to pass details of his tax affairs to the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser – who is investigating if he broke the rules for ministers – as Rishi Sunak continued to resist calls to sack him.

Pressure on the Tory Party chairman, who has admitted paying a penalty as part of an estimated £4.8 million settlement with HMRC, intensified after the head of the organisation said such penalties were not issued for “innocent errors”.

A source close to Zahawi said that he has now given HMRC permission to speak to Sir Laurie Magnus who is investigating whether his actions represented a breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct.

Earlier, giving evidence to MPs, the head of HMRC Jim Harra said that while he could not comment on individual cases there were “no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs”.

Speaking during a Cabinet away day at Chequers Sunak said he would wait for Sir Laurie’s report before making any decisions while refusing to be drawn on when he had learned his minister had paid the reportedly 30% penalty.

Asked why Harra’s comments were not evidence enough to sack Zahawi, the Prime Minister told broadcasters: “I’m not going to pre-judge the outcome of the investigation, it’s important that the independent adviser is able to do his work. That’s what he’s currently doing, that’s what I’ve asked him to do and I’ll await the findings of that investigation.”

A week ago, Sunak told Prime Minister’s Questions that Zahawi had addressed the fiasco “in full”.

But he went on to launch an investigation by Sir Laurie, his independent adviser on ministers’ interests, admitting there were “questions that need answering”, after the Guardian revealed Zahawi had paid a penalty.

Sunak insisted that “no issues were raised with me” when he appointed Zahawi to his current role, amid questions over his political judgment.

Earlier in the day, Harra was pressed on questions surrounding the minister’s tax dispute while appearing before MPs on the Public Accounts Committee.

Harra was at pains to stress that he could not comment on individual cases, but added: “Carelessness is a concept in tax law.

“It can be relevant to how many back years that we can assess, can be relevant to whether someone is liable to a penalty and, if so, what penalty they will be liable to for an error in their tax affairs. So if you take reasonable care, but nevertheless make a mistake, whilst you will be liable for the tax and for interest if it’s paid late, you would not be liable for a penalty. But if your error was as a result of carelessness, then legislation says that a penalty could apply in those circumstances.”

The row surrounding Zahawi centres on a tax bill over the sale of shares in YouGov – the polling firm he founded – worth an estimated £27 million and which were held by Balshore Investments, a company registered offshore in Gibraltar and linked to Zahawi’s family.

Zahawi has said that HMRC concluded there had been a “careless and not deliberate” error in the way the founders’ shares, which he had allocated to his father, had been treated. He also insisted he was “confident” he had “acted properly throughout”.

Pressed on the case, Harra also suggested there could be certain specific circumstances in which he could appear before the committee to discuss some details of a minister’s tax affairs, as he said he would aid the ethics inquiry into Mr Zahawi in any way he could.

“It would not be normal for me to account to this committee for a person’s tax affairs, but if there are general issues about how we manage tax and I’ve got the ability to be disclosive, that’s obviously something I would take advantage of,” he said.

“If we are asked by the independent adviser on ministerial interests to help with the inquiry, we will do so in any way we possibly can.”

But he also indicated that Zahawi would need to grant his consent as part of such a process due to the confidential nature of an individual’s tax affairs.

Downing Street said Sunak “expects participation” with the inquiry.

The HMRC boss distanced tax officials from any involvement in the appointment of ministers, amid questions about the Cabinet Office process for prospective officeholders.

Harra told MPs that HMRC was not routinely contacted by the Cabinet Office or Downing Street regarding ministerial appointments.

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Sunak denies being ‘hopelessly weak’ over Zahawi

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks on the phone with Leo Varadkar, the Irish Taoiseach in 10 Downing Street. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

The prime minister’s official spokesman and his senior advisers spent about 35 minutes after PMQs facing questions from the media about Nadhim Zahawi…reports Asian Lite News

Rishi Sunak defended his decision to launch an ethics inquiry into Nadhim Zahawi rather than sacking him, at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Sir Keir Starmer said the PM was “hopelessly weak” for not firing the minister for “seeking to avoid tax”. “Is he starting to wonder if this job is just too big for him?” the Labour leader asked.

Sunak said it was Sir Keir who was weak because “he has no principles just petty politics”.

Downing Street initially said Sunak’s tax arrangements were “confidential” when asked by Labour if he had ever paid a penalty to the UK tax authorities, like Mr Zahawi.

But the PM’s spokesperson later confirmed that he had not, saying: “The prime minister has never paid a penalty to HMRC.” The PM will publish his tax returns “in due course”, Downing Street has said.

In the House of Commons, Sunak said it would have been “politically expedient” to sack Mr Zahawi as a minister before PMQs got under way at noon but he believed in “proper due process”.

That was why, he said, he had asked ask his ethics adviser to investigate whether the Conservative Party chairman had broken ministerial rules.

It will be up to the PM to decide whether to sack Zahawi if his ethics adviser says he has broken the ministerial code. Zahawi was chancellor at the time the estimated £4.8m settlement was agreed with HMRC.

Sir Keir asked Sunak why he had said at last week’s PMQs that Zahawi had “addressed this matter in full”. “Since I commented on this matter last week more information, including a statement from the minister without portfolio [Mr Zahawi], has entered the public domain which is why it’s right that we do establish the facts,” the prime minister said.

He accused Sir Keir of “simple political opportunism” for urging him to appoint an ethics adviser then wanting a decision before they had investigated the case.

And he claimed “the difference between him [Sir Keir] and me is I stand by my values and my principles even when it is difficult,” accusing the Labour leader of indulging in “petty politics”.

Sir Keir said the PM’s “failure” to sack Zahawi showed “how hopelessly weak he is – a prime minister overseeing chaos, overwhelmed at every turn”. “He can’t say when ambulances will get to heart attack victims again. He can’t say when the prisons system will keep streets safe again. He can’t even deal with tax avoiders in his own cabinet,” said the Labour leader.

“Is he starting to wonder if this job is just too big for him?”

The prime minister’s official spokesman and his senior advisers spent about 35 minutes after PMQs facing questions from the media about Nadhim Zahawi.

It became something of an endurance slalom event, his team swerving this way or that to avoid many of the questions.

They wouldn’t tell us whether Rishi Sunak had talked to Zahawi before last week’s PMQs, when the PM said the whole thing was sorted.

We were told the PM has confidence in Zahawi, even though Sunak said it would have been politically expedient to sack him.

To be fair, any serving minister technically has to have the confidence of the prime minister. But the truth is we know that confidence is draining away, if not yet entirely emptied.

And a broader front is opening up – the weaponising of wealth, with Labour and the SNP pointing to the PM’s vast wealth too. However admirably accumulated, for those at the top of politics who are mega rich there is always likely to be political vulnerability around a perception of being detached from the lives of ordinary folk and having concerns and issues over tax, for instance, that seem other-worldly.

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Zahawi faces exit

Nadhim Zahawi leaves 10 Downing Street after being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

Prime Minister orders probe into the tax affairs of the chairman of his governing Conservative Party, saying there are “questions that need answering” about the dealings…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has ordered an investigation into the tax affairs of the chairman of his governing Conservative Party, saying there are “questions that need answering” about the dealings.

Sunak said that he had asked his independent ethics adviser Laurie Magnus to look into Nadhim Zahawi’s multimillion-pound case, which relates to the 55-year-old’s co-founding of opinion polling firm YouGov in 2000 before he became a member of Parliament.

“Integrity and accountability is really important to me … There are questions that need answering and that is why I have asked our independent adviser to get to the bottom of everything,” Sunak told reporters.

He added that Zahawi would remain as party chairman during the investigation and had agreed to “fully cooperate” with the probe.

Zahawi said he welcomed the move and looked forward to explaining the “facts of the issue”, adding he would not discuss it further while the investigation was under way.

He has previously said the United Kingdom’s tax authorities ruled he had been “careless” with his declarations but had not deliberately made an error to pay less tax.

Zahawi has said questions were raised about his tax affairs when he was made finance minister last year by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, prompting him to raise them with government officials and the tax office, which disagreed with the number of shares given to his father.

“So that I could focus on my life as a public servant, I chose to settle the matter and pay what they said was due, which was the right thing to do,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

He also said the tax office found he had not set up offshore tax arrangements, but the statement did not address whether he paid a penalty to the tax office.

A tax policy website – Tax Policy Associates – has estimated that Zahawi should have paid 3.7 million pounds ($4.6m) based on the capital gains tax incurred by the sale of tranches of shares in YouGov worth more than 20 million pounds ($24.7m).

The Guardian newspaper has reported that tax authorities had imposed a 30 percent penalty on top of the owed tax.

According to the government’s website, a penalty of 30 percent can be paid when there is “lack of reasonable care” or when the error is considered to be deliberate.

In the three months since Sunak became prime minister, his government has been buffeted by questions over the probity of some ministers and legislators after he promised to lead the country with “integrity, professionalism and accountability”.

The opposition Labour Party said Sunak, who assumed office after his two predecessors were brought down first by scandal and then economic chaos, was too weak to sack Zahawi.

“Everybody knows it’s wrong. He clearly isn’t going to resign and so the prime minister needs to show some leadership,” Labour Party leader Keir Starmer told reporters on Monday.

“This is a test of the prime minister. He promised us, his first words were integrity and accountability. Well, if those words mean anything, the prime minister should sack him and sack him today.”

Zahawi not planning to resign

Meanwhile, Zahawi is defying demands to quit as Conservative Party chairman despite paying a penalty to resolve a multimillion-pound tax dispute with HM Revenue & Customs.

Allies said on Monday that the former chancellor “absolutely” will not be quitting amid growing pressure over his estimated £5 million settlement.

Further “cronyism” allegations emerged as Rishi Sunak was already being urged by Labour to sack Mr Zahawi, who he brought back into a Cabinet-attending role after entering No 10.

Zahawi is also facing new allegations that he falsely told officials he had not exchanged WhatsApp messages with Conservative former prime minister David Cameron, who was lobbying for government loans for Greensill Capital.

The Times reported that it later emerged the pair had discussed the since-collapsed firm when messages were released to a select committee inquiry.

Zahawi said “morning” to waiting reporters and cameras as he arrived at Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), but gave no comment on his financial affairs or position.

Former Downing Street communications chief Sir Craig Oliver said Mr Zahawi is “hanging on by a thread”. “I think he’s in serious trouble, you cannot be Conservative Party chairman and not go out and face the media,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“The problem for Nadhim Zahawi at the moment is it doesn’t all add up. Why did you take the job as chancellor when you were clearly in dispute with the HMRC, and he is yet to come out with an answer that is satisfying or feels comfortable on that point.”

Seizing on the Greensill allegations, deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said “yet another” of Mr Zahawi’s stories was “unravelling”.

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Zahawi facing questions about tax payment

Nadhim Zahawi leaves 10 Downing Street after being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

YouGov’s 2009 annual report said: “Balshore Investments Ltd is the family trust of Nadhim Zahawi, an executive director of YouGov PLC.”…reports Asian Lite News

Former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has not denied a report he has agreed to pay millions of pounds in tax to settle a dispute with Revenue and Customs.

It comes after the Sun on Sunday claimed Mr Zahawi’s representatives would pay a “seven-figure sum” to HMRC.

HMRC said it would not comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers.

Labour says Zahawi, who now chairs the Conservative Party, has “serious questions” to answer about his tax affairs. The questions centre on whether Mr Zahawi tried to avoid paying tax by using an offshore company to hold shares in polling company YouGov.

The minister, who has a personal fortune estimated at up to £100m, co-founded YouGov in 2000, before he entered politics. At the time, his co-founder was given just over 40% of the shares in the company.

Unusually, Zahawi did not take any shares himself. However, a similar size shareholding was allocated to Balshore Investments Ltd, based in Gibraltar.

Dan Neidle, a Labour-supporting tax lawyer, who has looked into Zahawi’s affairs, last year described his decision not to take any YouGov shares himself as “surprising and unusual.” He questioned why the arrangement had been put in place.

YouGov’s 2009 annual report said: “Balshore Investments Ltd is the family trust of Nadhim Zahawi, an executive director of YouGov PLC.”

A representative for Zahawi said: “Neither he nor his direct family are beneficiaries of Balshore Investments or any trust associated with it. Zahawi has always said that he will answer any questions from HMRC, which he has always done.”

By 2018, YouGov had become a very successful business and Neidle says company accounts suggest Balshore Investments Ltd had sold shares it had held in the company for a total of up to £27m.

Neidle has estimated the tax due, if this had been liable to UK capital gains tax, would have been in the region of £3.7m. BBC asked Mr Zahawi’s spokesman whether any sum had been paid, or was planned to be paid, by Mr Zahawi, or a representative, to HMRC – but he declined to comment.

It also asked whether any such sum had been to settle a tax matter identified by HMRC and whether that had been in relation to YouGov but did not receive an answer.

Reacting to the reports about a payment to HMRC, Anneliese Dodds, who chairs the Labour Party, said: “If true, this is another nail in the coffin of the honesty, integrity and accountability promised by Rishi Sunak.

“Not for the first time, Rishi Sunak’s judgement has been called into serious question. The question remains is he strong enough to sack Nadhim Zahawi?”

Zahawi ignored reporters’ questions on his way in and out of a cabinet meeting, in Downing Street, on Tuesday morning. Asked if the public had a right to know if Zahawi had made a large payment to the tax authorities, his cabinet colleague Gillian Keegan said: “He is paying tax, so that’s the important thing. “His tax affairs are up to date,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

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Planned power cuts extremely unlikely, says Zahawi

Nadhim Zahawi leaves 10 Downing Street after being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

Planned blackouts hit the UK during the 1970s in response to the miners’ strikes and the oil crisis…reports Asian Lite News

The government is planning for blackouts but it is an “extremely unlikely scenario”, according to Nadhim Zahawi.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said it is “only right that we plan for every scenario”, before ruling out a £14 million campaign advising people how to conserve energy.

The National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO), which oversees Britain’s electricity grid, has said households and businesses might face planned three-hour outages to ensure that the grid does not collapse.

But it described this as an “unlikely” scenario and it would emerge if power plants cannot get enough gas to keep running.

Planned blackouts hit the UK during the 1970s in response to the miners’ strikes and the oil crisis.

There have also been major unplanned outages during storms, including in 1987 when more than 1.5 million people were left in the dark.

Zahawi told Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News: “We’ve got the second largest LNG (liquefied natural gas) processing infrastructure in Europe.

“Half of our gas we produce here at home, we want to go further – this year we’ve increased our output by 26% on gas. We’ve got interconnectors with our neighbours.

“Now, what the National Grid is saying is the extremely unlikely scenario where there are issues in Europe with the interconnectors and a very cold snap, so it’s extremely unlikely. But it’s only right that we plan for every scenario. All I would say is we have a buffer, the same buffer as last year, and so I’m confident that come Christmas, come the cold weather, we will continue to be in that resilient place, but it’s only right we have looked at every scenario.”

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More energy aid under incoming leader, says Zahawi

Truss, the strong favorite, has vowed to cut taxes and take green levies off energy bills, but has so far failed to detail how she’ll help the lowest earners and pensioners who’ll benefit the least from her plans…reports Asian Lite News

Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi said he’s working on additional measures to help households and businesses with soaring energy bills.

The proposals will help the country’s incoming prime minister “hit the ground running” after a leadership vote in the governing party concludes next week, Zahawi said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Monday. He said smaller businesses, in particular, will likely need assistance as a result of the energy crisis engulfing the UK and other European countries.

Zahawi’s remarks come as economic headwinds build against the UK, with the Bank of England predicting a recession lasting more than a year amid surging inflation. Adding to the gloom, the regulator Ofgem on Friday said a price cap on domestic energy bills will rise in October to nearly triple last winter’s level, piling misery on Britons already struggling with a cost-of-living crisis.

Zahawi is hamstrung in what he can do to help consumers because of a government pledge not to make major fiscal decisions while a leadership contest plays out to decide who’ll succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister next month. He is working on policy options that the two remaining contenders, Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, could implement if they win power.

Truss, the strong favorite, has vowed to cut taxes and take green levies off energy bills, but has so far failed to detail how she’ll help the lowest earners and pensioners who’ll benefit the least from her plans. Meanwhile Sunak has pledged more support for those groups, but has yet to say how much.

Zahawi, who backs Truss, may end up being one of the UK’s shortest-lasting chancellors, even if the foreign secretary does emerge victorious. That’s because Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is strongly tipped by Tory insiders to be Truss’s chancellor. Zahawi only took office in July after Sunak quit the post, helping to trigger a slew of ministerial resignations that led to the prime minister’s own downfall.

Asked whether more public spending to help with the energy crisis will worsen inflation, Zahawi said the UK has some room for additional capital expenditures, and will maintain fiscal discipline. He also backed the Bank of England’s efforts to tame prices.

“I am confident that the governor has the tools available to him to be able to also bear down on inflation,” the chancellor said, also noting that the bank is independent.

The winner of the leadership contest will be announced Sept. 5 and take over from Johnson the following day.

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Zahawi backs Truss  

Sunak meanwhile has won the support of Damian Green, the veteran Tory MP who served as de facto deputy prime minister under Theresa May, who leads the One Nation group of Conservatives…reports Asian Lite News

Nadhim Zahawi has thrown his weight behind Liz Truss in the Conservative leadership race, as ballots begin to drop on party members’ doorsteps on Monday.

The chancellor praised Truss’s “booster” economic approach while suggesting Rishi Sunak was a “doomster”.

Sunak and Truss take their campaigns to Exeter this evening, where the two rivals will take part in the second hustings of the contest.

Truss is now seen as the clear frontrunner in the race to replace Boris Johnson, and has also picked up the backing of defence secretary Ben Wallace and former leadership contender Tom Tugendhat.

Sunak meanwhile has won the support of Damian Green, the veteran Tory MP who served as de facto deputy prime minister under Theresa May, who leads the One Nation group of Conservatives.

In declaring his support for Truss, Zahawi wrote in The Daily Telegraph: “Liz understands that the status quo isn’t an option in times of crisis. We need a ‘booster’ attitude to the economy, not a ‘doomster’ one, in order to address cost-of-living woes and the challenges on the world stage. Liz will overturn the stale economic orthodoxy and run our economy in a Conservative way.”

When Sunak quit as chancellor Zahawi was handed the job by Johnson. A day after his appointment Zahawi told the prime minister he should resign.

Asked on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme about Zahawi giving his support to Truss, Sunak laughed and said: “As you can tell I find it it rather amusing.”

And he rejected the suggestion Truss had more support from Conservatives in Westminster.

“I did end the parliamentary phase with comfortably the largest number of MPs backing me,” he said.

In total, ten cabinet ministers have decided to back Truss for the leadership while eight are supporting Sunak.

Nadine Dorries, Suella Braverman, Simon Clarke, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Kwasi Kwarteng, James Cleverly, Therese Coffey, Wallace and Zahawi are supporting the foreign secretary.

Dominic Raab, Stephen Barclay, Robert Buckland, Grant Shapps, George Eustice, Mark Spencer, Shailesh Vara and Michael Ellis are backing Sunak.

In a last-ditch effort to win over the party faithful before they start voting, Sunak attempted to shake off his image as the tax-hiking former chancellor by promising the “biggest income tax cut since Margaret Thatcher’s government”.

He vowed to slash the basic rate from 20% to 16% within seven years if he becomes prime minister, in a move immediately branded as a “flip-flop” by allies of Truss after weeks of labelling her plans for sweeping tax cuts as “comforting fairy tales”.

Conservative members have the chance to vote as early as this week and have until the beginning of September to cast their ballot, with the winner announced on September 5.

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Zahawi named new finance minister of UK

Boris Johnsons appoints new members of the Cabinet. Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi chancellor of the Exchequer in his office of No11 Downing Street. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

Zahawi refused to comment to reporters as he left a meeting in 10 Downing Street, including on whether he will uphold Sunak’s pleas for fiscal discipline against Johnson’s free-spending instincts…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Boris Johnson late Tuesday named his Iraqi-born education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, as finance minister after the shock resignation of Rishi Sunak.

Downing Street said Queen Elizabeth II had approved the appointment of Zahawi, who came to Britain as a child with his Kurdish family not speaking any English, before forging a lucrative business career.

The 55-year-old co-founded the prominent polling company YouGov and was active in local Conservative politics in London, before becoming an MP in 2010.

He won widespread praise for overseeing Britain’s pandemic vaccines rollout.

But like Sunak, his private wealth has drawn adverse attention, including when he claimed parliamentary expenses for heating his horse stables in 2013.

Zahawi refused to comment to reporters as he left a meeting in 10 Downing Street, including on whether he will uphold Sunak’s pleas for fiscal discipline against Johnson’s free-spending instincts.

The prime minister named another loyalist, Michelle Donelan, to take Zahawi’s place at the education ministry.

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