Because of the tax affair: Rishi Sunak fires General Secretary Nadhim Zahawi Ukraine: Situation in Donetsk “extremely tense” – the nightly update without pictures

In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government has made negative headlines. Sunak fired his Tory party general secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, over a tax affair on Sunday and also threw him out of the cabinet, the PA news agency reported, citing the letter of resignation. The head of government, who has been in office for less than 100 days, had previously ordered an independent investigation into the allegations. Until now, Zahawi also sat in the cabinet as a minister with no specific area of ​​responsibility.

The former finance minister has been under fire for days because of his personal finances. According to media reports, the 55-year-old had paid the national tax authorities a seven-figure sum to settle a dispute over his tax affairs. Zahawi also admitted this, but without citing a specific amount. The ex-minister is accused of using an offshore company in Gibraltar as part of his role as a shareholder in the polling agency Yougov, which he co-founded.

The Conservative had come a long way. Born in Iraq, who came to Britain as a refugee at the age of nine, he held several ministerial posts under former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

In his letter to Zahawi, Sunak wrote that he took office as prime minister to lead a government that stands for integrity, professionalism and responsibility at every level. The investigation found that there had been a “serious violation of ministerial rules”. It is not the prime minister to resign from the cabinet in the first 100 days of the Sunak government: ex-minister of state Gavin Williamson had resigned over allegations of harassment. (sda/dpa)