Fishy Rishi is a sprat

This blog, not unexpectedly, is about the Chancellor’s wife, Akshata Murty, declaring non-dom status to avoid paying tax in the UK on her worldwide income. The sub-plot is whether I can forgive her as readily as I have forgiven BoJo almost anything to date, because Akshata’s hubby got furlough done during the height of the pandemic, just as solidly as Bojo got Brexit done.

By way of explanation, a non-dom tax status typically applies to someone who was born overseas, spends much of their time in the UK, but still ‘considers’ (for sentiment or convenience) another country to be their permanent residence or 'domicile'. Citizenship is irrelevant when it comes to non-dom status, because it is possible for a UK citizen, or someone born in the UK, to claim they are a non-dom. In Akshata’s case she was born in India and, while living in the UK at the moment, claims permanent residency elsewhere.

Does this make her a ‘bad’ person, or at least an ‘unfit’ Chancellor’s wife? Does this make Rishi an unfit Chancellor?

Unlike the Sunaks’ green-eyed (as in envious, not environmental) critics, I have no problem with anyone, including politicians, having a lot of money, as long as it’s theirs legally and ethically. From what I can work out, Rishi and Akshata are legally rich and their tax arrangements are kosher, so I can move on. 

Woops. Can I? I’ve just read that HMRC has been asked to investigate whether Akshata broke the terms of her non-dom status by giving her UK company millions in interest-free loans. But as this is a legal grey area – a non-dom can make such loans under certain circumstances – I’ll wait for more info before passing judgement on this one.

Back to Akshata legally not paying UK tax. Should she be required to go public on such arrangements as she’s the Chancellor's wife? Well, no. She’s a private citizen, regardless of whom she married. She's not been elected so should be afforded the same level of confidentiality as every other private citizen and should not have to publicly declare her tax status. In any event, even if she were a politician, I believe that by making public a politician’s financial affairs, it could throw the spotlight on their families’ or business partners’ affairs, and that’s not fair.

This segues into the question others have asked: are Akshata’s critics being sexist? Are they judging her through the prism of her husband’s failure to help those in real need during this cost-of-living crisis? Course they are. She’s married to a Tory so gets treated differently by leftie commentators. Shame on them. Another step backwards for women’s rights, instigated by those who purport to defend women’s rights. But only when it suits.

Here’s another one: are Akshata’s critics being racist? Do they object to her non-dom status because she’s Indian? Would they be so bellicose if she were French? Probably not, if her critics are the more Ridiculous Remainers who have always been happy to give France, and Germany and Belgium et al, as much money, power and negotiating position as is necessary to undermine Blighty.

Rishi himself is furious at the leak. I don’t blame him. I’ve blogged before about the leak-culture at Number 10 (and now Number 11) and I stand by everything I wrote in A toad surrounded by snakes, no matter how rude or hard-hitting some might think I was. Leakers – politicians, civil servants, SPABS – deserve such reprobation. Was it a labour-supporting mole (snake?) within the civil service who spawned Non-dom Gate? A BoJo-supporter, perhaps, in revenge for Rishi supposedly leaking the photos that triggered Party Gate to oust BoJo so that he could take the top job? Even if Rishi didn’t leak the photos, his lack of support for BoJo during his darkest hour was palpable.

Rishi’s PR campaign to make him look Prime-ministerial has been so slick, I’m surprised Extinction Rebellion haven’t been objecting about the waste of oil. You’d have thought, then, that his stellar PR team would have asked him if there was anything they should know that might count against him so they could be prepared for some crisis management / damage limitation. Maybe they did ask, but Rishi either chose to keep schtum about his missus, or didn’t think it would be an issue, and that would have been naïve.

Indeed, Akshata has now said she will pay UK tax in the naïve hope the furore will go away. Did she / he really think that would work? It hasn’t. And it won’t, because anti-Tories smell Tory blood and they’re partying gleefully like there’s no cost-of-living crisis, no invasion of Ukraine … and no corruption in Labour-controlled Tower Hamlets or Liverpool. Yeah, right.

Akshata and Rishi have done nothing corrupt / illegal tax-wise. Accusations of possible conflicts of interest are rife in the media, but that’s not always the same as illegality, especially if those conflicts don’t influence his decision-making. It will be a while before we know all those details and I want to get this blog posted today, so I’m parking that sort of stuff for now (apart from one further comment below). 

Akshata is a woman (i.e. she doesn’t have a penis) and especially in 2022 should not be defined or constrained by her husband’s career. So if non-dom status suits her personal circumstances, that should be perfectly acceptable. 

Except it’s not, because Akshata’s magnanimous announcement that she will now pay UK taxes won’t cause her any financial hardship whatsoever. She can still afford to fill her bathtub with champagne (or diesel) every morning. In other words, she has denied the UK the benefit of her taxes simply because she can, and that’s what gets up my nose.

Worse than that, however, is Rishi’s perceived lack of commitment to Blighty and what’s best for the people who honoured him with their vote, who are looking to him to help them navigate the cost-of-living crisis and to find the money to arm Ukraine. He clung to his US Green Card (i.e. the right to live there permanently and be employed) long after he joined the Government, which I understand breaches the terms of the Green Card. It also creates a potential conflict of interest to which I alluded earlier. And he’s been distracting and destabilising the country by positioning himself to take over from BoJo. Duty first, Rishi; self second. No one ever tell you that at MP-school?

Then he threatened to quit politics because things aren’t going his way at the moment. Where’s the dedication? The self-sacrifice? The loyalty? The staying power? The pair he should strap on?

While no illegality has (yet) been proven, Rishi’s aspirations to be PM aren’t looking too good: lack of judgement re his Green Card; self-promotion above duty; less-than-statesmanlike reaction to criticism of his (greedy) wife; apparent lack of empathy with ordinary voters. 

In the space of a few days, Akshata’s hubby has gone from being a big catch to a prize sprat.

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