Sam Leith Sam Leith

The curious carefulness of Nadhim Zahawi’s ‘carelessness’  

(Credit: Getty images)

The cliché is that it’s scandals about sex that tend to do for Tories, and scandals about money that do for their counterparts on the opposite benches. To give credit to the current generation of Tories, though, the last decade or so has seen, in this department, a feat of triangulation quite undreamed of by the likes of David Cameron or even Tony Blair.

The Conservatives have retained a creditably strong showing in the extra-marital nookie and unwanted sexual advances stakes; but my goodness, they haven’t half upped their game in financial sleaze. 

Using ‘I was simply careless’ as your explanation for why you accidentally seem to have not paid several million pounds in tax won’t really cut it

All credit to Boris Johnson for captaining the team. The former prime minister’s arrangements with a series of well-connected sugar daddies continue to provide the fan service of a prestige Blu-Ray reissue of a classic film: Easter eggs, behind-the-scenes footage, making-of, blooper reel etc.

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