{"id":7433,"date":"2023-10-09T16:27:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T16:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/?p=7433"},"modified":"2024-03-14T08:17:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T08:17:19","slug":"from-tax-lawyer-to-political-assassin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/09\/from-tax-lawyer-to-political-assassin\/","title":{"rendered":"From tax lawyer to political assassin"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you thought tax was boring, the latest New Money Review<\/em> podcast<\/a> will change your mind.<\/p>\n

Dan Neidle was a top corporate lawyer for 23 years\u2014ending up as head of tax at London law firm Clifford Chance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dan Neidle<\/em><\/p>\n

But in 2022 he retired to set up a new think tank called Tax Policy Associates<\/a>. Its aim is to improve UK tax policy and to improve the public understanding of the subject.<\/p>\n

This nerdish-sounding mission statement gave no indication of the political fireworks Neidle\u2019s new venture was shortly to ignite.<\/p>\n

In July 2022, he accused then-Chancellor Nadim Zahawi of having avoided \u00a34m in capital gains tax<\/a> a few years earlier.<\/p>\n

The facts were on Neidle’s side and Zahawi was forced to back down<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It later emerged that Zahawi was under investigation by his own subordinates in His Majesty\u2019s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), as well as being the subject of a separate inquiry at the National Crime Agency (NCA).<\/p>\n

Other campaigners had tried to expose Zahawi in previous years<\/a> but had been put off by threats of legal action\u2014the UK\u2019s infamous \u2018strategic lawsuits against public participation\u2019 (SLAPPs), which often silence investigative journalists.<\/p>\n

But when Neidle received similar threats from Zahawi\u2019s lawyers he called the UK Chancellor\u2019s bluff. He went ahead and published his investigations. The facts were on Neidle’s side and Zahawi was forced to back down.<\/p>\n

In September 2022, incoming UK prime minister Liz Truss replaced Zahawi as Chancellor and gave him another ministerial position. But in January 2023, Rishi Sunak, who had replaced Truss in October, fired Zahawi from the UK government.<\/p>\n

Citing the tax investigation which Neidle had been instrumental in bringing to light, Sunak said Zahawi had committed \u2018a serious breach of the Ministerial Code\u2019.<\/p>\n

Tax Policy Associates\u2019 more recent investigations touch on such sensitive topics as UK inheritance tax, the \u2018carried interest\u2019 tax exemption enjoyed by private equity firms and the alleged involvement of the family of another Conservative politician, Michelle Mone, in a cover-up relating to government contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

In the half-hour podcast discussion<\/a>, I quiz Dan Neidle on:<\/p>\n