What we punish and why
We punish wrongdoing, but do we do so consistently? Exactly what we punish and why is not so straightforward
When British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took office late in 2022, he pledged, “ This government will have integrity, professionalism, and accountability at every level”. Not really an extraordinary expectation of the country’s leaders, but at the end of last month, things went rather bad for Mr Sunak. The chairman of his party who, as is customary, is also a member of the cabinet as a minister without portfolio, was found to have been involved in a conflict with the taxman, culminating in a settlement of £5 million (€5.6M, $6M). Mr Sunak eventually fired chairman Nadim Zahawi for failing to disclose that he had paid a penalty for tax avoidance, while Mr Zahawi himself claimed the tax authorities had concluded that he had only made a “careless but not deliberate” error. Opinions are divided on whether Mr Zahawi’s claim is correct, and hence on whether his punishment — being sacked — was justified. The episode raises an interesting question: what do we typically punish, and why?
The penalty he allegedly paid reflected not so much the fact that he made an error, but that he had thus deprived the tax authorities from revenue they were entitled to. (There is not normally a penalty for making an error as a…
