Rishi Sunak referred to the independent adviser on ministers’ interests over his tax affairs, No 10 says | Politics News

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Downing Street has confirmed that the PM has asked the independent adviser on ministers’ interests to investigate Rishi Sunak – at the chancellor’s request.

Mr Sunak had asked Boris Johnson to refer him to Lord Geidt after days of criticism over his wife’s tax status and his possession of a US residency green card, even after he was appointed to Number 11.

He asked the peer to determine whether all his interests were “properly declared”.

Mr Sunak has said that he had “always followed the rules” and that he hoped the review would “provide further clarity”.

A spokeswoman for the prime minister said: “I can confirm that the prime minister has agreed to the request from the chancellor for Lord Geidt to undertake this work.

“The prime minister has full confidence in the chancellor.”

The chancellor has been under growing pressure over recent days since it emerged that his Indian-born wife Akshata Murty, a multi-millionaire, held non-domicile tax status, enabling her to avoid paying UK taxes on overseas income.

Ms Murty issued all now a statement saying that she would pay UK tax on worldwide earnings.

Mr Sunak, who before becoming an MP lived and worked in America, has also faced questions over the disclosure that he still held US green card permanent residency status until last autumn, a year and a half after becoming a chancellor.

Labor has accused Mr Sunak of hypocrisy over his household financial affairs – at a time when the government has been raising national insurance for millions of workers and implementing benefits increases that are much lower than the current rate of inflation.

The latest developments took place as the chancellor was on a visit to Darlington where he unveiled the preferred location for a new economic campus as part of plans to move civil service jobs out of London.

Mr Sunak has bristled at questions over his wife’s financial affairs, describing them as “smears”.

The intense scrutiny has prompted Sajid Javid, the health secretary and also former chancellor, to divulge that he has had non-dom status in the past.

George Eustice, the environment secretary, told Sky News on Monday that Mr Sunak had “performed very well” as chancellor.

But he said that he himself would never seek a green card or non-dom status.

“He’s now referred himself to the adviser on standards of ministerial interests,” Mr Eustice said.

“Lord Geidt will look at all of this and will make an assessment about whether he declared all the right things at the right time.”

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer called for the prime minister to reveal whether any other cabinet ministers had been “making use of schemes to reduce their own taxation”.

“What we can’t have is a chancellor who is telling millions of people that they have to pay more tax, there is no alternative, whilst at the same his own family appearing to have been using a scheme to keep their own tax down. “

Sir Keir said that there were no non-doms in the shadow cabinet “because I understand the fairness of the issue”.

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