THE Chancellor, his wife, her tax status and his green card. Not a sequel to the Peter Greenaway movie of 1989, but a summary of what was on the minds of Sunday politics show hosts at the end of an embarrassing week for Rishi Sunak.

Days of bad headlines over the non-dom status of Akshata Murty, the Chancellor’s wife, culminated in a removals van turning up at 11 Downing Street on Saturday.

While matters have not reached the point where a new resident is expected (the move was to bring the children closer to school, it was reported), there is speculation it may yet come to that, so unhappy is the Chancellor about the focus on his family finances.

With Mr Sunak’s boss busy making a surprise visit to Ukraine and the rest of the Cabinet occupied with Easter holidays, it was left to the relatively junior Kit Malthouse, Crime and Policing Minister, to act as flak-catcher for the Chancellor.

Trevor Phillips, filling in on Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday, wondered who saw the meltdown of Mr Sunak’s political career coming. Who indeed. Raising taxes at the same time as his wife was saving on taxes displayed a “massive tin ear”, Phillips reckoned.

While the Minister sympathised with families caught up in the cost of living crisis, he mostly seemed to feel sorry for Ms Murty, who he called a “non-combatant in the political fray”. Given the row stemmed from her non-dom status you had to wonder how helpful Mr Malthouse was being in attaching another “non” to her name.

“Hopefully we can move on,” said the Minister. There is no chance of that now the questions are piling up. Top of the list is why the Chancellor, a member of the British Government, had a green card putting him on a fast track to being a US citizen, only relinquishing it last year.

It was a hangover from a previous job, said Mr Malthouse. The delay in returning it could have happened to anyone. “C’mon,” said Phillips. “He’s not just anyone, he’s the Chancellor of the UK.”

Elsewhere, in what seemed a bid to get ahead of the story, Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, disclosed that he had non-dom status before entering politics. Other Ministers can now expect to be asked if they, or any members of their family, enjoy the same status, or, like Mr Sunak, if they had green cards.

No wonder Labour and other opposition parties are smiling this Easter. This one could run all the way up to the local elections and beyond. Partygate continues to go down like a dodgy canape with voters. Add the sight of very rich people becoming even wealthier through working the system, and another “one rule for them” row is ablaze.

Of all the inquisitors yesterday, it was Sophie Raworth of the BBC's Sunday Morning who proved the boldest. Any who think Raworth is a softer touch than her predecessor were again proved wrong. It was Raworth who raised the matter of Ms Murty not having to pay inheritance tax because of her continuing non-dom status. Mr Malthouse said predicting the demise of an individual was bad form.

There was more coming. How committed is the Chancellor to the UK?, asked Raworth. “That’s a pretty rotten insinuation,” said the Minister.

Later in the programme, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called on the Chancellor to be “fully transparent” about his family’s tax status.

“The lack of transparency does raise questions about conflict of interest but also it is about basic fairness. I don’t think the Chancellor gets that. That raises real questions about his judgement.

“There are some things that are just about morals and ethics. Previous chancellors have sorted out arrangements to make sure they don’t have conflicts of interest.

“This is lawful, but the question is whether it is ethical.”

Still on the question of ethics, Mr Malthouse said the Chancellor was right to demand an inquiry into how his wife’s tax status made its way into the newspapers.

“I think he would naturally want to understand how their personal confidential information was accessed. We need to think about the integrity of our tax system.”

Mr Sunak was given a glowing character reference by his colleague. “He is a smart, clever, committed politician who came into Parliament with me and I have been deeply impressed by him ever since. I’m a big fan,” said the Minister.

How many others will still be in the Rishi Sunak fan club when recess ends remains, like the bank holiday weather, up in the air.