UK’s Sunak defends handling of ethics breaches in government

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has defended his record on integrity and decisiveness amid criticism of the way he has handled ethics scandals involving senior Conservatives. Sunak said Monday that he acted “pretty decisively” to fire party Chairman Nadhim Zahawi. He was sacked on Sunday after the government’s standards adviser found that he’d breached ministerial conduct rules by failing to come clean about a tax dispute. Critics ask why Sunak did not ask more questions about Zahawi’s tax affairs before appointing him to the key job of party chairman in October. Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said Sunak “needed a backbone” and should have sacked Zahawi sooner.