the times | Saturday April 9 2022 5News
On Thursday Akshata Murty came to a
decision. To save her husband’s political
career she would pay UK tax on
dividends from her £690 million stake
in the Indian tech giant founded by her
father.
For the previous 24 hours Rishi
Sunak had been in the midst of a battle
for political survival after Murty’s non-
domiciled tax status was leaked on the
day he increased national insurance for
millions of people.
The chancellor had previously given
an interview to The Sun from Downing
Street, where the couple live, in which
he angrily defended his wife’s status as
a private individual. Accusing his oppo-
nents of “smears”, Sunak argued that
Murty’s tax affairs were an inevitable
consequence of her being an Indian
citizen, and expressed his “hope” that
“fair-minded people” did not mind that
there is “an Indian woman living in
Downing Street”.
But that night Murty came to her
own conclusion that the position was
unsustainable, friends say. Her decision
to start paying taxes on her foreign in-
come led last night to a publicity-shy
political spouse who has never before
given an interview issuing an extremely
personal 416-word statement accepting
that she had offended the “British sense
of fairness”.
Having his wife’s tax affairs at the top
of the political agenda is a long way
from the Easter break Sunak had envis-
aged. He had intended to spend next
week with his family in Santa Monica,
where he and Murty own a £5.5 million
penthouse flat with sweeping views of
the Pacific.
Yet even before Murty’s tax status
was revealed in an unprecedented leak,
Sunak had made clear that he saw ques-
tions about his wife as beyond the polit-
ical pale.
Privately his allies have gone even
further. They believe that he is the sub-
ject of a “political hit job”, variously
blaming an official for leaking to
Labour and No 10 itself. Such is the
febrile nature of relations between
No 10 and No 11 that one close ally of
Sunak claimed that there was a “full-on
operation” against the chancellor.
They suggested that the tax status of
Sunak’s wife had been deliberately
leaked before the May local elections,
which are widely expected to be disas-
trous for the Tories, and the culmina-
tion of the No 10 lockdown parties saga,
which could result in the prime minis-
ter being fined.
“I’m absolutely certain that No 10
have got an operation against the chan-
cellor,” they said. “No 10 are extremely
nervous that in a month’s time the local
election results will be dire and that for-
eign policy considerations won’t move
the dial. A lot of Conservatives feel that
Ukraine has only suspended the issues
around Boris. They’re trying to hit the
most credible contender.”
The claim has been denied by bothSunak had green card while chancellor
Henry Zeffman
Associate Political Editor
Steven Swinford Political Editor“All laws and rules have been followed
and full taxes have been paid where
required in the duration he held his
green card.”
The fact that Sunak retained a green
card for eight years after leaving the
United States and continued to use it
for travel purposes will raise questions.
The US government website states that
people who have been absent for a year
effectively abandon their right to a US
green card.
It adds to questions over Sunak’s
affairs after his wife, Akshata Murty,
admitted that she was non-domiciled
for tax purposes. The revelation led to
allegations that Sunak was being
subjected to a “political hit job”.
Boris Johnson denied claims yester-
day that 10 Downing Street was briefing
against Sunak over his wife’s non-dom
status.
The prime minister said that the
chancellor had his full support and was
doing an “outstanding” job.
In a sign of the level of fury in Sunak’s
camp, some colleagues of the
chancellor believe that the leak of
Murty’s tax status came from No 10after clashes over policy between the
prime minister and Sunak.
That was denied by the prime
minister yesterday afternoon at a press
conference with Olaf Scholz, the
German chancellor. “If there are such
briefings they are certainly not coming
from us in No 10,” Johnson said.
“Heaven knows where they are coming
from.”
He added: “I would just stress that the
chancellor, Rishi, is doing an absolutely
outstanding job and as far as possible, as
I think I said yesterday, I don’t think
people’s families should be dragged into
this.”
But under repeated scrutiny over
Sunak and Murty’s affairs, Johnson
generally declined to engage with
specifics. He said that he had not
known that Murty was a non-dom,
which means that she does not have to
pay UK tax on foreign earnings.
Asked about reports that Sunak held
a US green card while he was a minister,
Johnson said only that the chancellor
had “done absolutely everything he was
required to do”.
Letters, page 30Rishi Sunak has admitted that he held
a US green card for nearly two years
after becoming chancellor and used it
for private travel.
The chancellor said that he was given
a green card when he lived and worked
in the US as an investment banker.
Green cards are given to non-Ameri-
cans who treat the US as their perman-
ent residence.
Sunak retained his green card after
returning from the US to become a
politician in 2013, and continued to use
it for private travel. Sunak’s spokesman
said that he filed US tax returns as a
“non-resident” in full compliance with
the law.
On his first official visit to the US as
chancellor in October 2021 he held
discussions with the US authorities
about the “appropriate course of
action”.
“At that point it was considered best
to return his green card, which he did
immediately,” the spokeswoman said.News
her family a fortune in taxation
Murty pays price
in a testing week
sides, but highlights the distrust
between those who work in the two
buildings — including the prime minis-
ter and chancellor — after a succession
of damaging rows over tax.
On Friday afternoon David Canzini,
a senior adviser to the prime minister,
issued what many of those present took
to be a criticism of the Treasury.
“We’ve done something Conserva-
tive every day this week,” he said, high-
lighting commitments on nuclear and
the privatisation of Channel 4. “No
sniping, no opinions. We are all one
team.”
That distrust was only exacerbated
by Johnson’s lukewarm defence of
Sunak on Thursday. Asked about the
furore, the prime minister said that it
was very important to keep people’s
families out of politics “if we possibly
can”. Some Johnson allies believe that
the prime minister has not forgotten
Sunak’s less than full-throated defence
of him over the parties scandal. “It still
rankles,” one minister said.
The nature of the leak is particularly
sensitive for Sunak because it is
thought fewer than half a dozen people
knew about his wife’s status, with even
the prime minister in the dark about it.
The first Sunak’s own aides knew about
Murty’s arrangement was when they
were approached by The Independent,
leaving them “blindsided”.
One Sunak ally even speculated that
the leak may have come from the Trea-
sury itself, where some senior officials
are said to have been unhappy with his
failure to disclose the arrangement
when discussing tax arrangements for
wealthy foreigners.
One minister said that Sunak was
simply too rich to be prime minister.
“How does he look people in the eye
knowing that he’s flying off to his fully
staffed penthouse in Santa Monica for a
break?” they asked. “We’re facing a
cost-of-living crisis.”
They pointed to what they described
as his conspicuous displays of the trap-
pings of wealth — his Peloton bike, his
multimillion pound homes in Santa
Monica, Yorkshire and London, even
the fact he drinks his tea from a smart
mug that keeps it at precisely the right
temperature.
This assessment is firmly rejected by
allies of Sunak. “He’s not like Cameron
or Osborne, he doesn’t live a lavish lifes-
tyle,” they said. “He’s remarkably
frugal. He often skips lunch and works
20-hour days. He’s not interested in
wealth acquisition or a fancy lifestyle.
He made his own money and is now
dedicated to public service.”
Some allies of Sunak believe he
should walk away.
“He should have walked in Septem-
ber,” one ally said. “But he’s not going
anywhere. He does this because he’s a
public servant, he’s not in this for status
or power. He’s in it to do the right thing.”
So far only two Tory MPs — both
ministers on the broadcast round —
have spoken out in defence of Sunak.
For a man who until a few weeks ago
was being lauded as the next prime
minister, his isolation is a stark remind-
er of the tumultuous nature of politics.
Sympathy is hard to find.
“The problem is that people are
taking pleasure from it,” one govern-
ment source said. “There’s an element
of schadenfreude.”Non-dom row was
costing her husband
dearly, Steven Swinford,
Henry Zeffman and
Chris Smyth write
their daughters Krishna and Anoushka. Murty will now pay UK tax but still benefits from retaining her non-domicile status