Chancellor And Wife Must Come Clean On Financial Affairs, Urges Opposition

Rishi Sunak has been accused of 'breathtaking hypocrisy' over his wife's tax status

- Ob Merrick Anna Isaac

Pressure is growing on Rishi Sunak and his wife to come clean on details of their tax affairs after The Independent revealed that she uses the controversial tax-avoiding non-domicile status. Opposition parties joined forces to demand that the chancellor explain why Akshata Murty pays no UK tax on her huge foreign earnings, which is believed to save her many millions of pounds.

Tax lawyers also dismissed Ms Murty's claim that her non-dom status is a consequence of her Indian citizenship, pointing out that she has chosen to adopt it.

Condemning what he said was "breathtaking hypocrisy", Sir Keir Starmer called for answers about “what schemes she may have been using to reduce her own tax”, a demand echoed by the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party. Ministers attempted a fightback, condemning what one called "malicious attacks” on a private citizen, while another accused Labour of believing that “wives are merely an extension of their husbands”.

Boris Johnson ducked questions about the controversy, arguing: “I think it is very important in politics, if you possibly can, to try and keep people's families out of it."

Last night Mr Sunak spoke about his wife in a newspaper interview: “It's unpleasant, especially when she hasn't done anything wrong. She hasn't broken any rules. She's followed the letter of the law. And if she was living here and didn't just happen to be married to me this obviously would not be at all relevant."