Let’s be clear at the outset – the latest Nadhim Zahawi scandal isn’t just a tradesman forgetting to put a few jobs through the books. This is the man who was in charge of taxation, who by his own admission has been “careless” in abiding by the rules he was appointed to oversee. The stance of HM Revenue and Customs, in concluding that the deficiency was “careless and not deliberate”, also fails to impress.
The very least that we should be able to expect from a chancellor of the exchequer is that they are assiduous in complying with their own rules, but then Zahawi was appointed by Rishi Sunak, a prime minister whose family also made use of convenient provisions only available for the very richest people.
