Zahawi Gone But Sunak Still On The Hook

 The Government are trying to spin the Nadhim Zahawi scandal as showing the Prime Minster is strong and full to the brim with integrity for sacking the Conservative party chair for serious breach of the ministerial code over his tax affairs and while it is true that he did him did sack him this morning, it was only after trying desperately not to.
If we rewind to September when it first came to light that Zahawi had deliberately funneled his earnings through an offshore account, the Iraqi born Minister denied being under investigation by HMRC, while at one point being the Minister in charge of HMRC, and threatened to sue any journalists that repeated the claim  calling it: 'inaccurate, unfair and clearly smears'.
When it was announced a fortnight ago that Zahawi had been made to pay £3.8 million in unpaid taxes and been fined £1.2 million for non payment, Zahawi issued a statement saying the tax office had concluded he had made a: 'careless but not deliberate error', careless in HMRC speak is described as
'a failure to take reasonable care, defined as the behaviour which the person did or failed to do', in this case not declare the £27 million he shoveled into a Gibraltar Bank account when he sold his YouGov shares, HMRC deciding Zahawi 'did not conduct himself in the way that a prudent and reasonable person would have done'.
While Zahawi played on the Careless aspect as is he had forgotten to include it on his tax Return or somehow accidentally forgotten to pay the £3.8 million due in tax, The Head of HMRC, Jim Carra, last week stuck the boot in stating that: 'No penalties are given for innocent tax errors'.
After Journalists began to do what we do best and started digging further into the former head of HMRC, Sunak referred his friend to the ethics committee while it was revealed that Sunak had been warned in October when he appointed Zahawi to a Cabinet post that there was concerns over his tax affairs but still promoted him anyway and then this weekends revelations that Zahawi had some very dodgy friends receiving oil contracts in Iraq.
Today's publishing of the verdict that Zahawi had breached the ministerial code on seven separate occasions and the conclusion that 'Zahawi’s conduct as a Minister had fallen below the high standards we can expect from those who serve in the government, left Sunak little choice after his initial 'nothing to see here' and the 'matter 'had already addressed this matter in full' defence and then trying to kick it into the long grass.
Zahawi for his part showed no remorse and issued a statement following his sacking where he blamed the media's conduct which he said went beyond legitimate scrutiny of his tax affairs which showed an arrogance on a grand scale.
Sunak may hope that with Zahawi gone the spotlight won't turn on him and what he knew and when he knew it but that isn't going to happen, journalists smell sleaze and will be rightly gunning for him again, the non-dom wife avoiding UK tax hasn't gone away, and with the Commons Privileges Committee investigations into Boris Johnson lying to parliament over the Parties held in Downing Street while the rest of country was in lock-down once again laid bare in public and the soon to be
published inquiry findings into multiple bullying allegations against his deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, Sunak must be having some very sleepless nights.