Sunak inadvertently breached MP code of conduct: Parliament watchdog

London, Aug 24 (IANS) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has "failed" to correctly declare his wife's shareholding in a firm which was set to benefit from a new policy announced in the budget, as per Parliament's standards watchdog.

In April, Parliament's Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg initiated a probe into the "breach" of transparency rules by Prime Minister Sunak following concerns that the latter failed to declare that his wife Akshata Murty held shares in one of six childminding agencies selected by the Government to provide its new members with an enhanced financial incentive, 'The Independent' reported.

Appearing before the liaison committee, Sunak had not mentioned his wife's interest when speaking about the childcare changes.

"No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way," Sunak had told Labour MP Catherine McKinnell when she asked him whether he had anything to declare.

Greenberg had sought comments from Sunak, who said he had received advice from three independent advisers on the matter and had been told that his wife's shareholding
did not meet the test of relevance to require publication on the List of Minister's interests.

Considering the information available to him, Greenberg decided that the breach of the code appears to have been inadvertent.

Concluding that the breach arose out of the Prime Minister's "confusion" around the rules on declaration, Greenberg decided to close the inquiry without the need for further action.

In a letter to Greenberg, published by the commissioner's office, Sunak apologised for confusing the language of registration and declaration.

The Prime Minister said, "I am pleased that this matter will now be concluded by way of rectification."