Category Archives: Akshata Murty

Akshata Murty: I try not to read the news now

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Wife of Rishi Sunak says she finds coverage of her and her husband bizarre at times, mentioning the Adidas Sambas episode

Akshata Murty has admitted she has stopped engaging regularly with the news in an effort not to be “consumed” by living at No 10, in a rare solo interview as the next general election approaches.

The prime minister’s wife told the Times she found the coverage of her and her husband, Rishi Sunak, bizarre at times, highlighting how he recently made front-page news by wearing a pair of Adidas Samba trainers.

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Rishi Sunak insists he did not keep green card to move back to US

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Prime minister says he held on to his US residency until 2021 only because he had not got around to revoking it

Rishi Sunak has insisted he does not want to move to the US and that he kept his green card for years only because returning it was “not something I got round to”.

The prime minister said he had “acted in accordance with all the rules” when in possession of a US green card, which he gave up only in 2021, while he was chancellor.

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Tory plans to abolish non-dom status riddled with loopholes, Labour says

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Analysis suggests wealthiest would save millions and Sunak’s own family could benefit to tune of £250m

Conservative plans to abolish non-dom status are riddled with loopholes worth hundreds of millions of pounds for the wealthiest people in the country, Labour has claimed.

Analysis by the party found that the policy, announced by Jeremy Hunt in this month’s budget, could theoretically see Rishi Sunak’s family benefit from tax savings of nearly £250m.

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Key takeaways from Rishi Sunak’s 7,500-word Tory conference speech

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PM dresses up HS2 cancellation as fresh start as he attempts to portray himself as candidate for change

It was just over an hour long, and comprised more than 7,500 words, but what did Rishi Sunak’s conference speech actually contain? In some ways, quite a lot – but in others, remarkably little.

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Trade deal with Indian could be a double-edged sword for Sunak

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The position of the PM’s wife as a shareholder in a company that could benefit from an agreement is a major headache for No 10

• Read more: Rishi Sunak faces fresh conflict of interest row of India trade talks

With a general election not far away and the economy still struggling, Rishi Sunak is on the hunt for good news. Next month he will be in New Delhi for the G20 summit – a visit that will be unusually rich with picture opportunities and chances to strike deals. Sunak’s parents are of Indian Punjabi descent and his wife, Akshata Murthy, is a hugely wealthy Indian businesswoman, fashion designer and venture capitalist. In many ways it will be a homecoming for the first Asian couple ever to occupy No 10.

Sunak’s business and trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, has been in India over the past few days, laying the ground for a string of announcements with her G20 counterparts. Inevitably, much of the talk in UK and Indian diplomatic, business and trade circles has been about the possibility of a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and India. The two governments had hoped to conclude one last autumn but negotiations have dragged on.

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Rishi Sunak faces fresh conflict of interest row over India trade talks

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Exclusive: Labour has called for more financial transparency after it was revealed the prime minister’s wife’s shares could benefit from the agreement

• Read more: trade deal with Indian could be double-edged sword for Sunak

Rishi Sunak faces a new conflict of interest row before a G20 summit in New Delhi next month over claims that his family could stand to benefit financially from a post-Brexit trade deal that he is negotiating with India.

MPs and trade experts say there are concerns at the highest levels of government over potential “transparency” issues relating to his wife Akshata Murty’s shareholding – worth almost £500m – in the massive Bengaluru-based international IT services and consultancy company Infosys.

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Call for ministers to be more open about finances after Rishi Sunak code breach

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Standards commissioner’s ruling has set precedent, says Labour MP who first asked PM about wife’s interest in childcare agency

Ministers may need to be more transparent about their financial interests after a “significant ruling” that found Rishi Sunak failed to declare his wife’s interest in a childcare agency, the MP who triggered the inquiry has said.

Catherine McKinnell, the Labour MP who first asked him about the potential conflict of interest, said the ruling set a precedent that meant ministers were likely to have to make greater disclosures in relation to their interests when questioned in parliament.

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Rishi Sunak: Britain has moved on from judging people for being rich

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PM says Labour criticism of family tax arrangements doesn’t bother him, as rich list shows he and his wife have lost £200m

Rishi Sunak has said he is “not bothered” by Labour’s criticism of his wealthy family’s tax arrangements and thinks the UK has “moved beyond” judging people on their money, as a new estimate said the UK prime minister’s fortune had fallen to around £500m.

Sunak, who is the wealthiest British prime minister ever on account of his wife’s shareholdings, said he did not pay attention to Labour’s personal attacks on his finances.

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Velvet sofas and opulent curtains: the Sunaks’ makeover of No 10 flat revealed

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PM and Akshata Murty got rid of ‘very tired’ decor largely installed for former chancellor George Osborne

Rishi Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, undertook a makeover of the No 10 flat with opulent curtains and velvet sofas in jewel colours at their own expense, according to a new profile of the couple in the society magazine Tatler.

John Challis, the upholsterer behind the transformation, told the magazine that the redesign got rid of the “very tired” decor largely installed for the family of former chancellor George Osborne.

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Boris Johnson to hail Ukraine’s ‘finest hour’ in address to Kyiv parliament

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PM to be first world leader to address parliament since war began, as his chancellor faces questions over Infosys

Boris Johnson will hail Ukraine’s resistance against tyranny as an exemplar for the world as he delivers a virtual address to the country’s parliament on Tuesday.

Recalling Britain’s resolve during the second world war, the UK prime minister will say that “we remember our time of greatest peril as our finest hour”. He will say the bravery demonstrated by those who have sought to defend their country from Russian invaders means the war will come to be known as Ukraine’s “finest hour”, too.

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From non-dom to green card: questions still facing Rishi Sunak

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The chancellor remains under pressure after controversy over the tax affairs of his wife

The “non-dom” status: why will Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, not give it up?

Murty has agreed to pay UK tax on her worldwide earnings in future and for the last tax year, but she will continue to be a non-domiciled citizen. This potentially still confers inheritance tax advantages on her overseas wealth. Some critics are also still calling for her to pay UK tax on her worldwide earnings on a backdated basis.

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Rishi Sunak’s hopes of becoming prime minister are over, say top Tories

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Senior party figures think the furore over the chancellor’s US green card and his wife’s tax affairs have put an end to his chances

Senior Conservatives have written off Rishi Sunak as a potential prime minister – and now believe Boris Johnson will have to remove him as chancellor in his next reshuffle – following the furore over his US green card and his wife’s tax affairs.

One former Tory minister told the Observer that the fear among Conservative MPs with small majorities was that the party was now in a “death spiral” with its two leading figures – the PM and chancellor – both having lost respect among voters.

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Labour accuses Sunak family of avoiding tens of millions in taxes

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Chancellor obfuscated while imposing steep tax rises on ordinary Britons, says shadow minister

Rishi Sunak and his family potentially avoided paying tens of millions of pounds in taxes through his wife’s “non-dom” status while the chancellor imposed tax rises on the public, Labour has said.

The chancellor’s wife, Akshata Murty, gave in to mounting pressure on Friday, announcing she would pay UK taxes as Sunak’s position began to appear increasingly tenuous.

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Five key questions Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty have yet to answer

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Analysis: While the chancellor says his wife paid all UK taxes due, pressure is building over what he hasn’t said about their finances

Rishi Sunak is under huge pressure over his financial affairs and those of his wife, Akshata Murty, the daughter of an Indian billionaire who made his money in IT. These are the key unanswered questions:

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Sunak’s wife to pay UK tax after outcry

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Akshata Murty says she realises many felt her arrangements were not ‘compatible with my husband’s job as chancellor’

• Sunak defends wife’s tax status as Labour and No 10 deny leak

Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, bowed to pressure to pay UK taxes on Friday night, after Boris Johnson said he had been unaware she was a “non-dom” and fresh questions emerged over the couple’s tax affairs.

With Sunak’s position under increasing threat, Murty said she realised many people felt her tax arrangements were not “compatible with my husband’s job as chancellor”, adding that she appreciated the “British sense of fairness”. She will pay tax on all worldwide income in future and for the last tax year, but not on backdated income, which could have saved her an estimated £20m of UK tax on foreign earnings from her billionaire father’s Indian IT company.

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