Rishi Sunak’s ministerial interests published following launch of Commons probe

Published

2 years ago

April 19, 2023

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Rishi Sunak’s list of ministerial interests has been published following a row over whether he was transparent enough in declaring shares his wife holds in a childcare agency.

The register, compiled by the prime minister’s independent ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus, was released on Wednesday after opposition parties piled on the pressure.

The calls for greater transparency came after an investigation was launched into Mr Sunak by parliament’s standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg.

Downing Street confirmed that the investigation related to shares held by Akshata Murty, Mr Sunak’s wife, in a childcare agency that is set to benefit from last month’s budget.

Mr Sunak subsequently wrote to MPs to confirm that he had lodged the interest in the then-unpublished ministerial register as is required – but he stands accused of failing to declare it when he was first asked by MPs on the liaison committee last month.

In the register – which was published just moments before prime minister’s questions on Wednesday – a footnote confirmed that his wife holds shares in Koru Kids, one of the six childcare agencies listed on the government’s website that welcomed Jeremy Hunt’s announcement to offer cash incentives to childminders.

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The footnote read: “As the prime minister set out in his letter to the chair of the liaison committee on 4 April 2023, this includes the minority shareholding that his wife has in relation to the company, Koru Kids.

“The guide to the categories of interest… sets out the independent adviser’s approach to the inclusion of interests declared in relation to spouses, partners and close family members within the list.”

The list of ministerial interests was last updated in May 2022 – 11 months ago. The register is supposed to be published every six months for reasons of transparency.

Rules governing the register of ministerial interests say that MPs who are ministers should state any relevant interests connected to spouses, partners or close family members.

However, Sir Laurie’s document did not contain an exhaustive list of Ms Murty’s interests, arguing that a balance needed to be struck between any potential conflict of interests and the right to privacy.

“While there may be interests of close family of a minister that might be thought to give rise to a conflict with their ministerial responsibilities, it is also important to consider their right to a degree of privacy over their affairs,” Sir Laurie said.

“Accordingly, interests which are not directly relevant or on consideration do not in fact give rise to a conflict, but may give rise to public comment, are not within the scope of the list.”

He added: “The list is not a register of interests and does not therefore include every interest that a minister has declared in relation to themselves and their family members.

“To do so would represent an excessive degree of intrusion into the private affairs of ministers that would be unreasonable, particularly in respect of their family members.”

Yesterday Sir Keir Starmer urged Mr Sunak to publish his and his wife’s details, telling him not to “hide behind the process” and “come clean”.

While the standards commissioner did not go into specifics when he opened his investigation, he did cite paragraph 6 of the MPs’ code of conduct, which states that members “must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its committees, and in any communications with ministers, members, public officials or public office holders”.

The allegation against Mr Sunak is that while he may have declared the interest in the now-published ministerial interests list, he did not flag it when first quizzed by MPs.

During the session, Labour MP Catherine McKinnell pointed out that six private childcare agencies were set to benefit from the budget, which confirmed a pilot of incentive payments of £600 for childminders joining the profession – a sum that doubles to £1,200 if they sign up through an agency.

Ms McKinnell asked Mr Sunak what the logic was in making the bonus twice as much for childminders who sign up through private agencies pressed him on whether he had any interests to declare.

Mr Sunak replied: “No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way.”

Mr Greenberg is currently investigating seven MPs for possible breaches of Commons rules, of which Mr Sunak is one.

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Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney named prime minister of Canada – succeeding Justin Trudeau

Published

4 hours ago

March 10, 2025

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Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney named prime minister of Canada - succeeding Justin Trudeau

Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has been named Canadian prime minister after winning the Liberal Party leadership race in a landslide victory.

Mr Carney, who also used to be the head of Canada’s central bank, emerged as the frontrunner in the contest as the country deals with the impact of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

He ended up winning 85.9% of the vote.

During his victory speech, he told the crowd: “Donald Trump, as we know, has put unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell and how we make a living.

“He’s attacking Canadian families, workers and businesses and we cannot let him succeed and we won’t.”

Mr Carney said Canada would keep retaliatory tariffs in place until “the Americans show us respect”.

Mr Trump’s tariffs against Canada and his talk of making the country America’s 51st state have infuriated Canadians.

The American national anthem has been repeatedly booed at NHL and NBA games.

“Think about it. If they succeeded, they would destroy our way of life… America is a melting pot. Canada is a mosaic,” Mr Carney added.

“America is not Canada. Canada will never ever be part of America in any way, shape or form.”

The 59-year-old will replace Justin Trudeau, who has served as prime minister since 2015.

Mr Trudeau announced he was stepping down in January after facing calls to quit from a chorus of his own MPs.

The 53-year-old’s popularity had declined as food and house prices rose.

Mr Carney will now have to decide when to call a general election in Canada – which must take place on or before 20 October.

In 2013, he became the first non-UK citizen to run the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694.

His appointment was popular in Britain after Canada recovered from the 2008 financial crisis faster than many other countries.

During leadership debates, Mr Carney argued he was the only person prepared to handle Trump.

“I know how to manage crises,” he said.

“In a situation like this, you need experience in terms of crisis management, you need negotiating skills.”

The surge in Canadian nationalism has bolstered the Liberal Party’s chances in a parliamentary election.

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Donald Trump says Ukraine ‘may not survive’ war against Russia even if US support continues

Published

6 hours ago

March 9, 2025

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Donald Trump says Ukraine 'may not survive' war against Russia even if US support continues

US President Donald Trump has suggested Ukraine “may not survive” the war against Russia even if American support continued.

In an interview with Fox News channel’s ‘Sunday Morning Futures’, Mr Trump was asked about his controversial decision to pause support for Kyiv as it fends off Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Mr Trump, who had a disastrous meeting with Mr Zelenskyy at the White House last week, was asked about a warning from Polish President Andrzej Duda “that without American support, Ukraine will not survive”.

Asked if he was “comfortable” with that outcome, the US president said: “Well, it may not survive anyway.

“But we have some weaknesses with Russia. You know, it takes two,” Mr Trump added.

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It comes as Mr Zelenskyy will visit Saudi Arabia for a Monday meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, while Ukrainian diplomatic and military representatives will meet with a US delegation on Tuesday.

Mr Trump’s latest remarks come amid global concern over the souring relationship between Ukraine and the US, which alongside the EU has been Kyiv’s main backer in its defence against Russia’s three-year land, air and sea invasion.

The US paused military aid and the sharing of intelligence with Ukraine this month after a meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy on 28 February descended into acrimony in front of the world’s media.

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Mr Trump ordered the pause as he attempts to put pressure on Mr Zelenskyy to negotiate a ceasefire deal with Russia.

Mr Trump has privately made it clear to aides that a signed minerals deal between Washington and Kyiv will not be enough to restart aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reported earlier on Sunday.

The 78-year-old president is said to want the deal signed, but also wants to see a change in Mr Zelenskyy’s attitude towards peace talks.

Officials have told NBC News that Mr Trump also wants Mr Zelenskyy to make some movement towards holding elections in Ukraine and possibly stepping down as his country’s leader.

Mr Zelenskyy said in a recent interview he would be ready to step down as Ukraine’s president if it meant his country would become a NATO member and find peace.

That came after he was branded a “dictator” by Mr Trump as Ukraine had not held fresh elections – despite laws prohibiting it during wartime.

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Russian forces creep through disused gas pipeline in attempt to launch surprise attack on Ukrainian soldiers

Published

13 hours ago

March 9, 2025

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Russian forces creep through disused gas pipeline in attempt to launch surprise attack on Ukrainian soldiers

Russian special forces crept through a disused gas pipeline for several miles to launch a surprise attack on Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region, Ukraine’s military and pro-Moscow war bloggers have said.

Footage circulating on the Telegram app claims to show the elite soldiers crouching as they make their way through the darkness of the pipe to the town of Sudzha.

Some can be heard cursing in Russian and complaining about the commanders who sent them on the mission.

One of the soldiers is heard saying: “F*****g hell, where the f*** are we, boys?”

Another says: “Where does the pipe go? To Sudzha, for f**** sake, that’s f***ing crazy.”

Later in the clip a soldier is heard saying: “We’ll get there of course, but indignantly, because we’re f*****g sick of the f*****g command.”

He later adds: “They took our f*****g assault rifles too.”

Two of the soldiers are seen smoking cigarettes while a separate image shared on Telegram shows an operative wearing a gas mask.

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The special forces soldiers walked around nine miles (15km) through the pipeline which Moscow had until recently used to send gas to Europe, according to Telegram posts by Ukrainian-born pro-Kremlin blogger Yuri Podolyaka.

In the footage, the soldiers suggest the mission requires them to walk seven miles through the pipe.

Mr Podolyaka says some of them spent several days in the pipeline before striking Ukrainian units from the rear near Sudzha.

The operation formed part of efforts by Russia to recapture areas of Kursk which were seized by thousands of Ukrainian soldiers in a shock offensive in August last year.

Another pro-Russian war blogger, who uses the alias Two Majors, said a major battle is under way in Sudzha after Moscow’s special forces crept through the pipe.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s general staff confirmed on Saturday that Russian soldiers had used the pipeline in an attempt to gain a foothold, but airborne assault forces promptly detected them, and they responded with rocket, artillery and drone attacks that destroyed Moscow’s units.

“The enemy’s losses in Sudzha are very high,” the general staff reported.

It comes as Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces shared a video on Telegram on Saturday which it claims shows Kyiv’s forces repelling Russian forces in Kursk with airstrikes.

Sky News has not independently verified the footage.

Months after Kyiv’s forces seized parts of Kursk, Ukrainian soldiers are weary and bloodied by relentless assaults of more than 50,000 Russian troops, including some from Moscow’s ally North Korea.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers run the risk of being encircled, open-source maps of the battlefield showed on Friday.

Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said this morning that it had captured a settlement in Kursk and another in Ukraine’s Sumy region.

Russia also launched heavy aerial attacks overnight on Ukraine into Saturday – with at least 22 people killed, including 11 in the frontline town of Dobropilla in Ukraine’s embattled eastern Donetsk region.

Ukrainian president Voldymyr Zelenskyy described the attacks as a “vile and inhumane intimidation tactic” by Russia.

The attacks come after the US paused military aid and the sharing of intelligence with Ukraine this month after a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Mr Zelenskyy descended into a confrontation in front of the world’s media.

The Trump administration’s stance on Ukraine and apparent favouring of Moscow has sparked concern among European leaders.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics told Sky News on Sunday that European countries should “absolutely” introduce conscription as he conceded the continent was “quite weak” militarily in the face of the Russia threat.

Meanwhile, Russian officials have been criticised after presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders on International Women’s Day.

Russia is often accused of throwing its troops into a “meat grinder” with little regard for their lives.

The local branch of government in the northwestern Russian town of Polyarniye Zori defended itself against the backlash, saying critics were making “callous and provocative interpretations” of the gifts.