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And this is Zahawi's letter to Johnson, but rather indirectly so:-"Here is the text of Nadhim Zahawi’s letter. In his tweet Zahawi makes it clear that this message is addressed to Boris Johnson, but his letter - on Treasury notepaper - reads like a press release. It is not addressed to anyone.This may be one of the first documents Zahawi has signed on Treasury notepaper.'My number one priority has and always will be this great country. When asked to become chancellor, I did it out of loyalty. Not to a man, but loyalty to this country and all it has given me.The challenges Britain faces, be it inflation or Putin’s war in Ukraine, will not pause for anything, and it is vital that the major offices of state continue to function through a national crisis. If people have thought poorly of me for that decision, it is criticism I am willing to shoulder.Yesterday, I made clear to the prime minister alongside my colleagues in No 10 that there was only one direction where this was going, and that he should leave with dignity. Out of respect, and the hopes that he would listen to an old friend of 30 years, I kept this counsel private.I am heartbroken that he hasn’t listened and that he is now undermining the incredible achievements of this government at this late hour. No one will forget getting Brexit done, keeping a dangerous antisemite out of No 10, our handling of covid and our support for Ukraine in its hour of need.But the country deserves a government that is not only stable, but which acts with integrity.Prime Minister, you know in your heart what the right thing to do is, and go now.'"Such "incredible achievements"?His hat thrown in the ring anyway.

David Ainsworth ● 1307d

And apparently Zahawi may be a frontrunner:-"Business minister Nadhim Zahawi has been forced to backtrack during a TV interview after initially claiming he did not know whether Jeremy Corbyn would shoot Britain’s richest people if he becomes Prime Minister.The “absurd” comment from the Conservative candidate came after he was challenged by Andrew Neil over Boris Johnson’s recent article, in which he compared the Labour leader and his views on the wealthy to Soviet chief Joseph Stalin’s persecution of affluent Russian farmers during his dictatorship.“Stalin deported two million Kulaks to Siberia. He had hundreds of thousands of them shot. He did nothing when five million peasants starved to death. The comparison between that and Mr Corbyn wanting to raise taxes on the rich is absurd. Isn’t it?” asked the BBC presenter on Wednesday night’s The Andrew Neil Show. Mr Zahawi responded: “No, well, when you begin to demonise the wealth creators, the entrepreneurs, it is in my view an incredibly dangerous road to go down.”“Will he have them shot?” Mr Neil pressed, to which Mr Zahawi replied: “I don’t know you’ll have to ask him that question.” Appearing baffled, Mr Neil said: “You’re seriously saying to our viewers, tonight, that you don’t know if Mr Corbyn’s going to have wealthy people shot?”As Mr Zahawi accused the Labour leader of wanting to take their money away, Mr Neil interjected: “This is getting absurd.”In Mr Johnson’s article, published in The Daily Telegraph, the Prime Minister claimed Labour “pretend[s] that their hatred is directed only at certain billionaires – and they point their fingers at individuals with a relish and a vindictiveness not seen since Stalin persecuted the kulaks”."https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/nadhim-zahawi-andrew-neil-bbc-interview-jeremy-corbyn-video-360069What a breath of fresh air Zahawi would be after Johnson!

David Ainsworth ● 1307d