Hello there, I'm Thomas Kingsley and welcome to The Independent's Inside Politics newsletter. While the UK was waking up to a seemingly quiet and uneventful Sunday morning, Rishi Sunak had other plans as he took the opportunity to sack his Party chairman after just six months in the role, raising further questions over his leadership, the Conservative's election chances and the truth behind Nadhim Zahawi's tax affairs. |
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Inside the bubble Health minister Helen Whately will be doing the morning rounds this morning, appearing on Good Morning Britain from 8.30am. In Parliament there will be a reading of the government's controversial Strikes bill while leader of the House, Penny Mordaunt, will lead two motions in the afternoon. |
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End of the line It took some hesitation, some back and forth and even legal threats, but Rishi Sunak has finally sacked his Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi after just six months in the job. The chairman, who also sits in Cabinet and is now facing calls to resign his seat as an MP – did not apologise for his handling of his tax affairs and lashed out at the media in his exit letter to the PM. More than eight days after it emerged that Mr Zahawi had paid a £1m fine to HMRC, the prime minister told him in a letter that there had been "a serious breach of the ministerial code" and that he would be stripped of his cabinet role. Mr Sunak revealed on Sunday morning that his ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, had judged Mr Zahawi to have broken ministerial rules seven times by failing to be open and honest during the tax saga – including by making "untrue" public statements. But former Tory minister Michael Portillo said the length of time it took Mr Sunak to act had made the prime minister "look weak", while Craig Oliver, a former director of communications for No 10, agreed that the delay had made the PM appear "quite weak". Tory MPs shared their anger at Mr Zahawi for dragging the controversy out. One senior party figure said the former chancellor had badly damaged the government by not "stepping back and sorting it" last week. Another MP said Mr Zahawi had "ruined himself", adding that "there is no way back for him" in government. |
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Misery strikes A strike by up to half-a-million workers in bitter disputes over pay, jobs and conditions this week should send a clear message to the government that it cannot continue to ignore the causes of the unrest, according to the head of the TUC. Teachers, train drivers, civil servants, university lecturers, bus drivers and security guards from seven trade unions will walk out on Wednesday in what will be the biggest day of industrial action in over a decade. Protests will be held across the country on the same day against the government's controversial plans for a new law on minimum service levels during strikes. Unions have dubbed it the "anti-strike bill", saying it could lead to workers who vote legally to strike, being sacked. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said Wednesday will be a "really important day" for workers and members of the public to show support for those taking action to defend pay, jobs and services, as well as for the right to strike. Mr Nowak said the Prime Minister and Chancellor now had to get involved in trying to resolve the long running disputes in the health service, education, civil service and other parts of the public sector. Picket lines will be mounted outside schools, train stations, universities and Government departments on Wednesday, and rallies will be held across the country. Thousands of people are expected to join a march through central London to Westminster for a rally to be addressed by union leaders. The TUC will also hand in a petition to 10 Downing Street, signed by more than 200,000 people, opposing the new legislation on strikes. |
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On the record Nadhim Zahawi's letter to Rishi Sunak after he was sacked as Conservative Party chairman: "I am concerned, however, about the conduct from some of the fourth estate in recent weeks. In a week when a Member of Parliament was physically assaulted, I fail to see how one headline on this issue 'The Noose Tightens' reflects legitimate scrutiny of public officials." |
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From the Twitterati Sky News deputy political editor, Sam Coates, on reaction from Tory MPs following Nadhim Zahawi's sacking: "A 'Titanic' government with 'treasonous' civil servants who should be fired or publicly shamed and with a PM who cannot solve the his priority issues - that's the Tory 'Common Sense' group verdict on where we are." |
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