The new policy which came out last month will directly benefit a childcare firm in which Akshata Murthy is a shareholder. The PM is being accused of not declaring this conflict of interest before the Parliament.
The UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has landed in hot waters again after reports came out about conflict of interest due to his wife Akshata Murthy’s business interests. It has recently came to light that one of the policies released last month by the Sunak led government directly benefited a childcare firm in which his wife is a shareholder.
The Prime Minister allegedly failed to declare this conflict of interest when the policy came out. The Parliamentary Standards have launched an investigation to find out whether Sunak had properly declared his wife’s investment into the childcare firm. The investigation is being carried out by Daniel Greenber, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.
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Akshata Murthy’s investment in Koru Kids
Akshata Murthy is a shareholder in the childcare firm Koru Kids. Koru Kids is one of the six childminder firms mentioned on the UK government’s official website. The firm recruits and trains childminders who are then provided to families in need of childcare services.
The Sunak led government released a childcare policy last month. The childcare policy offers financial incentives for new childminders. The financial incentives would be even greater for people who become a part of agencies like Koru Kids.
The policy aims at generating more interest in the childminders field and also helping out agencies like Koru Kids. The policy directly benefits Akshata Murthy as an investor in the childcare firm. This has led to the policy being a conflict of interest since it directly benefits a family member of the UK government member.
The UK Prime Minister allegedly failed to disclose his wife’s involvement in the childcare firm when he appeared before the liaison committee. On being asked by the Member of Parliament (MP) on whether he had something to disclose, the Prime Minister said, “No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way.”
Rishi Sunak in a statement has said that he will happily assist in the investigation against him and declared that the conflict of interest was “transparently declared as a ministerial interest.”
UK Prime Minister’s previous troubles due to his wife’s billionaire background
This is not the first time that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has landed in hot waters due to his wife’s business inclinations. His wife, Akshata Murthy, is the daughter of Narayana Murthy. Narayana Murthy is the cofounder of Infosys.
She was criticized heavily when it came to light that she was using her Indian citizen status to cut down on her UK taxes even after marrying Sunak. The controversy escalated once it was revealed that Murthy was still cutting down on UK taxes even after Sunak became the Financial Minister of the United Kingdom in 2020.
Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murthy have a net worth in the billions category. Although well within her rights to do so, she ultimately gave in and declared that she will start paying full UK taxes starting from the financial year 2021-2022.
Rishi Sunak is famously known as being the richest Prime Minister the UK has ever had. He has been consistently criticized over failing to publicly acknowledge his wealth and dealing with the criticism in a proactive manner.
