The Nadhim Zahawi scandal risks a blow to Rishi Sunak’s reputation

Editorial: He should have jettisoned Zahawi long ago – that he did not, raises awkward questions about the prime minister’s own judgement

Zahawi has consistently refused to give a full account of himself (PA)

According to Rishi Sunak, there are “questions that need answering” about the troubled tax affairs of Nadhim Zahawi. That is something of an understatement. Why did Mr Zahawi not pay the correct tax in the first place? Why did he fail publicly to declare a beneficial interest? Why did he deny the truth? Why did he say he’d sue journalists for libel? Who did he inform, and when?

Ever since The Independent broke the story last July, the questions about Mr Zahawi have been insistent and growing, but never answered – because Mr Zahawi has consistently refused to give a full account of himself. Indeed, he flatly denied the claims made in The Independent about official investigations into his tax liabilities and offshore family trust, dismissed them as smears, and threatened to sue anyone who dared to repeat them.

Yet now Mr Zahawi has himself issued a statement of clarification – which only begs further questions – and the prime minister has ordered his ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, to look into the affair.