Nadhim Zahawi lawyer fined for attempt to ‘silence’ campaigner on tax affairs
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Ashley Hurst ordered to pay £310,000 over email sent while acting for ex-chancellor. A lawyer acting for Nadhim Zahawi during investigations into the former chancellor’s tax affairs has been ordered to pay £310,000 after a campaigner complained of an attempt to silence him over the controversy.
Ashley Hurst, from the legal firm Osborne Clarke, was alleged to have improperly tried to restrict Dan Neidle, campaigner and founder of the thinktank Tax Policy Associates, from discussing an email from Hurst, in which he offered Neidle an “opportunity” to retract an allegation against Zahawi and implicitly threatened a defamation claim. Hurst warned that Neidle was “not entitled” to publish or refer to the communication, except to seek legal advice.
On Friday the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) ruled that Hurst had breached the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) code of conduct in respect of the July 2022 email. Hurst was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £260,000. A second allegation relating to a letter sent in the same month was found not proved, the tribunal ruled.
Writing on X, Neidle said: “The idea that a lawyer can send a libel threat to someone, and require them never to tell anyone about it, is both dangerous and absurd. The SDT reached the right decision.”. Zahawi faced controversy in July 2022 over his tax affairs after he was appointed chancellor by Boris Johnson. He faced questions over avoiding tax by using an offshore company to hold shares in YouGov, the polling company he founded.
