UK Parliament watchdog opens investigation into PM Rishi Sunak
Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Apr, 2023 11:26 AM
London, April 17 (IANS) UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being investigated by UK Parliament's commissioner for standards over a potential breach of rules relating to the declaration of interests, understood to be related to his links to a childcare firm in which his wife is an investor, media reports said on Monday.
The Commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, opened an investigation into the Prime Minister on Thursday last week, an update on the Commissioner's website said, The Guardian reported.
The entry says only that it relates to paragraph six of the updated code of conduct for MPs, which states they "must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the house or its committees".
Sunak's wife, Akshata Murty, is listed as a shareholder in Koru Kids, which is among six private childcare providers likely to benefit from a pilot scheme proposed in last month's budget to incentivise people to become childminders, with 1,200 pounds offered to those who train through the agency, The Guardian reported.
On 28 March, Sunak did not mention his wife's interest when speaking about the childcare changes before the liaison committee. He was asked by Labour MP Catherine McKinnell whether he had anything to declare. "No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way," he told McKinnell.
It later emerged that bosses from the company attended a Downing Street reception hours after Sunak's committee appearance, The Guardian reported.
It is understood that McKinnell raised the issue with the commissioner.
Sunak does not list his wife's shareholding on his register of interests as an MP, which MPs are required to update promptly.
Downing Street has argued that this is not necessary, because Sunak cited it on a separate register of ministerial interests. This, however, has not yet been published, as it is still being compiled by the new adviser on ministerial interests, Laurie Magnus, The Guardian reported.
2 Sikh men were attacked and robbed in New York in Queens on Tuesday, the same neighbourhood in the city where an elderly Sikh man was the target of a hate crime less than 2 weeks ago. The attack happened “very close” to the area where Nirmal Singh was punched in an unprovoked assault on April 3.
Officials from the city and the federal government investigating the morning shooting which seemed to be meticulously planned were puzzled by what triggered the attack. Although 33 shots had been fired, no one has died while five of those hit by bullets were reported to be in a critical condition.
A total of 16 people were injured in the incident, six of them from shrapnel, smoke inhalation or other causes, officials said. 5 of the gunshot victims were in critical condition, but miraculously there were no deaths reported.
The shooting occurred at 4.13 p.m. on Sunday evening in the US city's 12200 block of Blakley Avenue, Xinhua news agency quoted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as saying in a notification. Two male adult victims were pronounced dead at the scene, the Department said.
The Speaker asked Shehbaz to move to the seat of the Prime Minister in the House and he shifted to the treasury benches amid cheers, with other members of the former joint opposition following suit. Shehbaz said it is the first time in Pakistan's history that a no-confidence motion against a Prime Minister has been successf
In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled on Thursday that the National Assembly Deputy Speakers ruling to dismiss the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan and the subsequent dissolution of the Lower House by the President on the PMs advice were contrary to the Constitution and the law of the land, Express Tribune reported.
