Nadhim Zahawi latest news: Chairman of Conservative Party’s position ‘untenable’ after HMRC tax admission

Nadhim Zahawi is not planning to resign as Conservative Party chairman despite paying a penalty to resolve a tax dispute with HMRC.

Rishi Sunak has been urged by Labour to sack Mr Zahawi, who he brought back into a Cabinet-attending role after entering No 10, with questions whirling over how much the prime minister knew about the former chancellor’s tax affairs.

A source close to Mr Zahawi did not answer questions over his settlement, estimated to be around £5 million, but said: “He is absolutely not resigning.”

Mr Zahawi sought to end questions about his tax affairs by releasing a statement saying questions were raised about his tax affairs when he was being appointed chancellor.

The UK will be 15 years late in hitting a Conservative government target of £1tn in annual exports after trade was hit by Brexit difficulties, it has emerged (Adam Forrest writes).

The government’s own projections have revealed that the value of British exports will not hit £1tn until 2035, despite a pledge by David Cameron that the goal would be achieved by 2020.

Boris Johnson later revived the promise and said the target would be reached by 2030 – but Department for International Trade (DIT) estimates now show it won’t be hit until five years later.

Nadhim Zahawi arrived at Conservative Campaign Headquarters in London this morning amid calls for him to be sacked over his tax affairs.

The Tory Party chair said “Morning!” to the press gathered outside. He then went inside the building.

Questions over the former chancellor’s future in government have been raised by his admission that he paid a settlement to HMRC over a “careless” error.

Nadhim Zahawi failed to tell officials that he had exchanged WhatsApp messages with David Cameron when the former PM was contacting ministers about Greensill Capital loans, it has been reported (Adam Forrest reports).

The Tory chair – fighting for his political life after admitting he had to settle a tax dispute with HMRC – wrongly told investigators that he had not exchanged messages with Mr Cameron, according to The Times.

A probe by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found that Mr Zahawi did not tell officials about messages from Mr Cameron looking for help with contact details, the newspaper said.

A record number of nearly 350,000 patients waited more than 12 hours to be seen at A&E in 2022 (Daniel Reast writes).

New figures analysed by the Liberal Democrats reveal a staggering rise in experiences of 12 hour delays in emergency care since 2015.

By last year, the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours for emergency admission reached 347,700 or a mean average of almost 1,000 patients a day.

These figures suggest that more people waited over 12 hours at A&E in just two days last year than in the whole of 2015.

A Tory MP said nobody should be appointed chancellor in the midst of a personal tax dispute, after reports that Nadhim Zahawi may have reached a settlement with HMRC while in No 11.

Peter Aldous, MP for Waveney, said on Times Radio that it’s “not acceptable” to “have a situation where the chancellor or his private advisors are negotiating a settlement with HMRC”.

The Times over the weekend reported that the timings of Mr Zahawi’s dispute make it possible he was in talks with the taxman during his time as chancellor from 5 July to 6 September last year.

Rishi Sunak should sack Nadhim Zahawi as Tory Party chair, shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said.

Ms Powell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “His position is totally untenable and it shouldn’t be a case that we are sitting around waiting for him to resign, the prime minister should be sacking him.

“The prime minister took office only a few months ago declaring that his government was going to be one of integrity, accountability and professionalism, and here we have a very senior member of his cabinet who at the time of these allegations was the chancellor when we now know he was negotiating with HMRC to pay taxes that he was due to pay and a settlement and a penalty for those – yet he is still in office.

“I think this is just totally unacceptable and every day that passes just shows the weakness of the prime minister [in] that he is unable to sack Nadhim Zahawi.”

Conservative party chairman Nadhim Zahawi is said to have been rejected for a knighthood over concerns about his tax affairs (Adam Forrest writes).

The cabinet minister – fighting for his political life after admitting he had to settle a tax dispute with HMRC – was reportedly put forward for the recent New Year’s honours list.

But Whitehall officials blocked the honour after checking with HRMC about Mr Zahawi’s tax affairs in December, according to The Sun on Sunday.

Nadhim Zahawi’s position as Tory chair is “untenable”, MPs have warned after the ex-chancellor admitted a tax dispute with HMRC.

One former Tory cabinet minister said Mr Zahawi was “unlikely” to survive the tax row in which he admitted a “careless error”.

“Carelessness with finances wouldn’t have been a recommendation for the post of chancellor, had we known about it,” they said. “It’s hard to see how it can be acceptable for the post of chairman.”

Adam Forrest has more on the furore surrounding Mr Zahawi’s tax affairs: