LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing a watchdog inquiry under his parliamentary declaration of interest obligations related to a Budget policy that could benefit his wife, Akshata Murty, through her business interests in a childcare firm, it emerged on Monday.
The inquiry has been opened by the UK’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, an independent officer of the House of Commons in charge of looking at evidence if individual British members of Parliament are feared to have broken a rule under the ‘Code of Conduct’.
The active inquiries on the watchdog’s list include one opened on Sunak, 42, last Thursday under Paragraph 6 of the rules of conduct, as Downing Street said the ministerial interests were “transparently declared”. The Opposition had flagged this fact last month and called for further explanations.