Rishi Sunak took over British Prime Minister with different promises. One of them is to drive withIntegrity at all levels»A government that was painting a negative public image as a result of the scandals of former “Prime Minister” Boris Johnson, especially the illegal parties that were held in official offices during confinement due to the Covid-19 epidemic, as well as the partisan crisis that toppled Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss , just 45 days after becoming a Downing Street tenant.
Sunak, who in these months has made an effort to keep a low profile, out of controversy and who has congratulated himself on some important achievements, such as reaching an agreement with Brussels on the Northern Ireland Protocol or strengthening ties with France, is in the works. Scrutinize now, as Parliament’s standards watchdog is investigating whether he has correctly declared his wife, Akshata Murthy, a shareholder in Kuro Kids, a childcare company who in turn would be one of the beneficiaries of the executive’s policy to support the sector taking announced measures. in the March budgets.
technological empire
Moorthy, whom the “Prime Minister” met while studying at Stanford University (California), is the daughter of one of the richest people in India: billionaire businessman Narayana Moorthy, co-founder of tech consulting giant Infosys, while his mother, Sudha, an accomplished electrical engineer, runs Infosys Foundation, a Bangalore-based non-profit organization to support the underprivileged.
Their daughter, who was born in April 1980 in Hubli, North Bangalore, and who created her own fashion label, Akshata Designs, was raised by her grandparents while she was raised by her parents, despite their limited means. technology empire, of which it owns approximately 1% of the shares. Her fortune is estimated at 730 million pounds, according to the 2022 list of ‘The Sunday Times’, making her one of the richest women in the UK.
Murthy, who studied economics and French, was already at the center of another controversy in October 2022, while Sunak was finance minister, when it became known that he had not paid taxes in the UK. Akshata would have evaded more than €22 million in taxes that she did not pay to the British Exchequer thanks to her “non-resident” (non-domicile or non-resident) status, a legal formula often used by foreign millionaires not to declare income obtained outside the country.
Although Akshata Moorthy justified her status by spending extended periods of time in India in the care of her parents, she renounced her otherwise legal status, and declared that she would pay her taxes on British territory. The couple, who married in 2009 in Bangalore and have two daughters, Krishna and Anushka, set up venture capital fund Catamaran Ventures in 2013.
opaque interests
Sunak did not disclose his wife’s interests when he appeared before a parliamentary committee on March 28 to explain the new measures his chief executive would take in childcare. If the investigation determines that this was a breach of the Code of Conduct, you may be penalized and forced to make a public apology.
The Labor opposition asked for an updated register to be published ahead of local elections in May, and Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, said the new register showed the need for “tougher rules and tougher enforcement, to give you the public the transparency and accountability you deserve”. “There will be no accountability as long as the prime minister continues to place his duties over morality,” he said.
