Sunak claims he ordered inquiry into Zahawi ‘as soon as I knew about the situation’
Here is the full answer that Rishi Sunak gave to Sky’s Beth Rigby when asked about the Nadhim Zahawi affair. (See 10.57am.)
What I have done is follow a process, which is the right process.
Integrity is really important to me – all of you guys want to see that government is run properly, that it is run with integrity and there’s accountability when people don’t behave in the way that they should or if something doesn’t go right, and that’s what we’ve done.
We have an independent adviser – that’s what the government has, it’s not me who’s doing it – and what I asked when all these questions started coming to light about Nadhim Zahawi, I asked the independent adviser to get to the bottom of it, and to provide me with the facts.
And then, on the basis of the facts, which he did relatively quickly over the past week, I was able to make a very quick decision that it was no longer appropriate for Nadhim Zahawi to continue in government, and that’s why he’s no longer there.
That’s what I’ve done. It relates to things that happened well before I was prime minister, so unfortunately, I can’t change what happened in the past.
What you can hold me accountable for is, what did you do about it? What I did, as soon as I knew about the situation, was appoint somebody independent, looked at it, got the advice and then acted pretty decisively to move on, because that’s what I think all of you deserve, from me and from the government.
Other reporters tried asking about the Zahawi affair too, but in response Sunak just delivered an abbreviated version of what he told Rigby, or ignored the question altogether.
Sunak obviously wants to draw a line under the story and move on. But the claim that he acted “as soon as I knew about the situation” is not persuasive. At the weekend my colleagues Pippa Crerar and Anna Isaac reported that Sunak was warned that there was a risk when he appointed Zahawi to be Conservative chairman in October. No 10 disputes this, but it cannot deny that stories about Zahawi being investigated by HM Revenue and Customs over his taxes first appeared in the papers last July. Sunak hasn’t explained why he never asked anyone to get to the bottom of these reports until Monday last week.
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William Hague rules out becoming next Conservative party chair
Some Tories would like Rishi Sunak to appoint William Hague, the former Tory leader and former foreign secretary, as the next party chair, Jason Groves reports in the Daily Mail. Groves says:
Last night two ministers told the Mail that former Tory leader William Hague was among the possible candidates for the job.
One said: ‘If the PM could persuade Hague to do it, it would be fantastic. He is hugely popular with the party in the country and he is someone who could clearly and forcefully articulate the government’s message.’
No 10 hinted that the search could take some time and said the PM had not yet ‘sounded [anyone] out’, including Lord Hague, who is a close ally of the PM and was invited to attend last week’s cabinet ‘away day’ at Chequers.
This morning Hague has ruled it out. He did not quite say he wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole, but he might just as well have done. He said:
Since I’ve seen reports of people placing bets on me being the new party chairman, please be aware that I will absolutely not be returning to politics in any shape or form, including that one.
Health department publishes plan for up to 50,000 patients per month to be treated in ‘virtual wards’
The Department for Health and Social Care has published more details of its plans for up to 50,000 patients a month to be treated in “virtual wards”, or “hospital at home” beds, by next winter in England. In a news release it says:
The NHS has already rolled out virtual wards – treating patients from the comfort of their own homes – with growing evidence that these are a safe and efficient alterative to hospital care, particularly for frail patients. These see patients supported by clinicians to recover in the comfort of their own home, rather than in hospital – and has increased the number of patients that can be cared for in this way by 7,000, a 50% increase since last summer. Another 3,000 ‘hospital at home’ beds will be created before next winter and the plan will include an ambition to see up to 50,000 people supported a month.
High tech virtual wards currently support frail elderly patients or those with acute respiratory infections and cardiac conditions. Patients are reviewed daily by the clinical team who may visit them at home or use video technology to monitor and check how they are recovering.
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, is expected to make a statement about this to MPs tomorrow, and the government says its full urgent and emergency care plan will be published tomorrow.
Sunak claims he ordered inquiry into Zahawi ‘as soon as I knew about the situation’
Here is the full answer that Rishi Sunak gave to Sky’s Beth Rigby when asked about the Nadhim Zahawi affair. (See 10.57am.)
What I have done is follow a process, which is the right process.
Integrity is really important to me – all of you guys want to see that government is run properly, that it is run with integrity and there’s accountability when people don’t behave in the way that they should or if something doesn’t go right, and that’s what we’ve done.
We have an independent adviser – that’s what the government has, it’s not me who’s doing it – and what I asked when all these questions started coming to light about Nadhim Zahawi, I asked the independent adviser to get to the bottom of it, and to provide me with the facts.
And then, on the basis of the facts, which he did relatively quickly over the past week, I was able to make a very quick decision that it was no longer appropriate for Nadhim Zahawi to continue in government, and that’s why he’s no longer there.
That’s what I’ve done. It relates to things that happened well before I was prime minister, so unfortunately, I can’t change what happened in the past.
What you can hold me accountable for is, what did you do about it? What I did, as soon as I knew about the situation, was appoint somebody independent, looked at it, got the advice and then acted pretty decisively to move on, because that’s what I think all of you deserve, from me and from the government.
Other reporters tried asking about the Zahawi affair too, but in response Sunak just delivered an abbreviated version of what he told Rigby, or ignored the question altogether.
Sunak obviously wants to draw a line under the story and move on. But the claim that he acted “as soon as I knew about the situation” is not persuasive. At the weekend my colleagues Pippa Crerar and Anna Isaac reported that Sunak was warned that there was a risk when he appointed Zahawi to be Conservative chairman in October. No 10 disputes this, but it cannot deny that stories about Zahawi being investigated by HM Revenue and Customs over his taxes first appeared in the papers last July. Sunak hasn’t explained why he never asked anyone to get to the bottom of these reports until Monday last week.
Q: What more can you do to keep children safe, in the light of the killing of a teenage girl in Hexham?
Sunak says partly it is about investing in the police, which is happening. He says stop and search rules are being changed to make it easier for officers to use stop and search. And tackling violence against women and girls specifically is important too, he says.
And that’s it. The Q&A is over.
Q: There has been a really worrying report about our defence capability. What are you doing about this?
Sunak says defence spending is going up. And he says the government is supplying more arms to Ukraine.
ITV’s Robert Peston goes next.
Q: Why do so many Tories find it hard to obey the rules?
Sunak says he has aready addressed this.
Pressed again, Sunak says he cannot do anything about what happened before be became PM.
Q: When will you resolve the nurses’ pay dispute?
Sunak says he answered this in a long answer earlier. (See 10.35am.)
He says he will keep at it. They will find a way through. He says they are already talking about pay for this year.
Sunak claims he acted ‘decisively’ over Zahawi and says he wants to ‘move on’
Sunak is now taking questions from the media.
Beth Rigby from Sky News goes first.
Q: Today you are not even recommitting to get back to the 18-minute waiting time target for ambulances. Why not?
Sunak says the current waiting times are unacceptable.
But he says the NHS has faced unprecedented pressures. The flu crisis was the worst for years.
He says he wants to get waiting times down to 30 minutes this year, and down to pre-pandemic levels later.
He says he thinks the January figures will show things are already starting to improve.
Q: You are talking about the NHS. But your tenure in government has been more about sleaze than sound government. Are you furious about Nadhim Zahawi?
Sunak says he followed the process. He has an independent adviser, he asked the adviser to get to the bottom of the facts, and he took a decision on the facts.
He says this relates to things that happened before he became PM.
He says he acted “decisively” so that people could “move on”, which is “what I think all of you deserve”.
UPDATE: See 11.29am for the full quote from Sunak in response to the Zahawi question.
Q: To staff all these extra beds, you will need more staff. Will you review the rules that determine what people like nurses are and are not allowed to do?
Sunak says that is a very good question. The government is reviewing this, he says.
He says doctors need to be confidence that “virtual wards” can be safe.
The government has a “great plan”. But it has to deliver it, and part of that involves ensuring that staff can deliver it, and that restrictions don’t stop them doing what is needed.
Q: I’m a senior partner in a GP practice. The bureaucracy for GPs is increasing. Can you reduce it?
Sunak says he discussed this at his recovery forum in Downing Street recently. The royal college made some suggestions. The government is looking at them.
He says it is helpful for him to hear from doctors like the questioner what the problems are.
Sunak says the proposals in the urgent care plan announced today to increase the use of “virtual wards” will be “transformational”.
Sunak says NHS workforce plan will increase number of places in medical schools
Q: A Policy Exchange report a few weeks ago called for an increase in places at medical school. Will that be part of your NHS workforce plan?
Yes, says Sunak. That is what the government needs to do.
It needs a long-term approach.
Here is the Policy Exchange report. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, spoke at the launch where he pointed out that Labour has already set out ambitious plans to expand the number of NHS training places availabe.
Sunak says it will be ‘awful for all of you’ if government fails to bring down inflation
Q: What are your plans for rebuilding hospitals like the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton, the one you visited this morning? And when will you pay nurses properly?
Sunak says the NHS capital spending budget is the biggest ever. Almost 100 hospitals are being upgraded. And there is the 40 hospital programme, he says, which involves builds and rebuilds.
(He does not describe this as the government building 40 new hospitals – which was the misleading description used by Boris Johnson for the programme.)
On pay, Sunak says the government has followed the pay review process.
He says asking why nurses cannot be paid more is “a fair question”.
But, referring to the topics covered by earlier questions, he says there are many other demands on the money.
He can says the NHS is getting more money than before. “Overall the pie is as big as it’s ever been.”
But, within that they have to balance the needs of pay against other needs, like more MRI scanners.
And Sunak says he does not want to put people’s taxes up.
He also says his priority is to halve inflation.
If inflation is still high in a year’s time, it will be “awful for all of you”, he says.
