RISHI Sunak insisted he acted “decisively and swiftly” in sacking Nadhim Zahawi as he continued his search for a new party chairman.
The PM vowed “that’s that” in a bid to draw a line under the row today, as he tried to shift the blame over his tax probe.
Rishi Sunak vowed ‘that’s that’ in a bid to draw a line under the Nadhim Zahawi row
Mr Zahawi was booted from the Cabinet hours after ethics chief Sir Laurie Magnus found he had repeatedly broken the ministerial code
It came as his support among Tory members sunk even further in the latest polling.
Mr Zahawi was booted from Cabinet just hours after a report by the Government’s ethics chief, Sir Laurie Magnus, found he had repeatedly broken the ministerial code.
Mr Sunak said on a visit to Darlington yesterday he “made a quick decision” after firing his second Cabinet minister in less than 100 days.
And he promised to “take whatever steps are necessary to restore the integrity back into politics”.
The under-fire PM stressed: “It relates to things that happened long before I was PM, unfortunately I can’t change what happened in the past.
“As soon as I know, I appointed somebody independent, got the advice and acted pretty decisively, because I think that’s what all of you deserve from me and from government.”
Downing Street insisted there were no plans to change the way that ministers are vetted following calls for MPs to be given a say in how it’s done.
Health Chairman Steve Brine said “confirmation” hearings could boost scrutiny.
He told the BBC: “We have select committees in Parliament, we say that we trust them. Why not at some point bring them into that process? I don’t think that is unreasonable.”
Meanwhile, Mr Sunak’s rating among the Tory faithful in the latest ConHome poll dropped down again – from 13.1 down to 2.9.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace topped the poll once more, followed by Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, and Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly.
Mr Zahawi tumbled down to a low of minus 48 as the fury over his tax affairs reached fever pitch.
Last night Sunak ally Lord Hague ruled himself out of the Tory chairman job – saying he would “absolutely not be returning to politics in any shape or form.”
