Hat UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s wife benefited from a government decision? The government had announced £600 (€682) in incentives for childminders in a pilot scheme. The sum doubles to £1,200 if the application is made through an agency.
Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murthy, owns shares in a child care agency named on the government’s website for the project. Sunak had not mentioned the connections when questioned by lawmakers. The opposition is now accusing Sunak of a conflict of interest, and the Liberal Democrats called for an independent investigation on Wednesday.
MP Wendy Chamberlain said Sunak had serious questions to answer about whether his family was receiving income from government policies. British MPs are not required to mention financial ties to their partners or family members unless they consider them to be a problem. A spokeswoman for Sunaks admitted that the details are not yet publicly available. They would, however, be published in an updated register of interests due to be published in May.
Sunak is also considered the wealthiest MP in the British House of Commons because of the fortune of his wife, whose father co-founded the Indian IT giant Infosys. It was recently revealed that he was paying out of his own pocket for the upgrade of the electricity supply to his home in Yorkshire because his private pool uses a lot of energy.
Members of the environmental protection organization Greenpeace protested in bathing suits in front of Sunak’s property on Wednesday. They wanted to highlight “the hypocrisy of the richest British Prime Minister in history”. Greenpeace criticized Sunak for paying for network upgrades for its own pleasure but failing to upgrade the outdated national network for the benefit of all.
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