Senior Tory MP John Penrose, the government’s former anti-corruption tsar, has demanded new checks on Treasury minsters’ tax returns in the wake of the Zahawi affair.
Mr Penrose – who resigned last year over the “Partygate” saga – said HMRC should have special permission to expose Treasury ministers whom they suspect are dodging tax.
The former minister told BBC 5 Live that HMRC should be able to break the customary confidentiality of individuals’ tax returns in the case of Treasury ministers. “We need to upgrade our system so we can prevent more of this happening in the future – we have got to have a system that works better,” he said.
Mr Penrose added: “There might be a case for revisiting the question for Treasury ministers, because HMRC cannot say, ‘Hang on a second we think there’s an issue’ because they are bound by confidentiality. Maybe there should be a slightly tougher regime for Treasury ministers in particular.”
But Mr Penrose dismissed the idea of suspension for Mr Zahawi. “I don’t think having just paid an enormous fine and being sacked from the cabinet, we should find other things to heap on him at the moment. Those are two pretty huge penalties he has just been handed,” he told BBC Radio 4.