Rishi Sunak declares wife’s shares in Koru Kids childcare agency after investigation launched into interests
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Rishi Sunak has declared his wife’s shares in a childcare company which could benefit from the budget after an investigation was launched into his possible breach of the rules. The Prime Minister has faced questions over Akshata Murthy’s shares in Koru Kids, a childcare agency which could benefit from a policy in last month’s Budget.
It was announced on Monday (April 17) that the Parliamentary watchdog was investigating Sunak for a possible failure to declare an interest after not mentioning them during a committee appearance last month. Meanwhile, yesterday (April 18) Labour called on him to "come clean" and publish his interests.
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Downing Street resisted the call to publish them, saying it had no plans to publish Mr Sunak’s interests separately to the wider list of interests for all ministers. It said that work to compile the list, which is managed by the PM’s ethics adviser, was "ongoing".
But the list of interests for all ministers, including Rishi Sunak, has now been published less than 24 hours later, and just hours before Prime Minister’s Questions. Under the section for relevant interests held by a spouse or close relative, Mr Sunak‘s entry includes his wife’s venture capital company Catamaran Ventures and unnamed “direct shareholdings”.
“The Prime Minister’s wife is a venture capital investor,” it states. “She owns a venture capital investment company, Catamaran Ventures UK Limited, and a number of direct shareholdings.”
A note adds that these include her “minority shareholding” in Koru Kids, which Mr Sunak declined to mention when questioned by MPs last month over why one of his policies specifically benefited childminders who sign up through private agencies.
Mr Sunak’s team insisted he had followed the rules by declaring the shares as a ministerial interest, rather than to the Commons.
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