STILL HE CLINGS ON

» Sunak orders ethics scrutiny on HMRC row » Labour says 'unacceptable' and 'sack him' » Calls for PM to finally publish his own return

- JOHN STEVENS AND ASHLEY GOWBURN

TAX-ROW Tory Nadhim Zahawi clung to his job last night as the Prime Minister was urged to "grow a backbone and sack him".

The Conservative Party chairman remained in post even after it emerged he had failed to tell Rishi Sunak that while he was chancellor he was given a payment penalty by HMRC.

In a bid to defuse the latest Tory sleaze scandal, the PM admitted there are "questions that need answering" and ordered an ethics probe.

But Labour said he should not need an ethics adviser to tell him Zahawi should be sacked - and Sunak faced calls to finally deliver on his promise to publish his own tax return.

While running the Treasury last summer, former businessman Zahawi paid a settlement, thought to have been around £5million, to the taxman to end a dispute over his bill, including a reported penalty for not paying the right amount to start with.

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said it was "pathetic" and "simply not good enough" for Sunak to "pass the buck" to his new ethics chief, Sir Laurie Magnus. She said: "Nadhim Zahawi was chancellor while he hadn't paid his tax and was negotiating a settlement with HMRC at the time.

"You don't need an ethics adviser to tell you that's unacceptable."

And Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds added: "Rishi Sunak shouldn't need an investigation to know that Nadhim Zahawi isn't fit for government. He needs to grow a backbone and sack him."