Nadhim Zahawi said he “completely accepted the position of the prime minister”, who fired him as party chairman last month for what Rishi Sunak described as a serious breach of the ministerial code – Mr Zahawi failing to disclose an investigation into his tax affairs.
In his first broadcast interview since he was sacked, Mr Zahawi told the BBC he had “co-operated fully” with the PM’s independent adviser on ministerial interests, including providing access to his tax returns “as a whole”.
He said he wanted to “learn from the experience”. Mr Zahawi is thought to have paid a settlement of around £5m to HMRC, including a penalty, while serving as chancellor under Boris Johnson.
