Under fire British Prime Minister David Cameron has lashed out at what he called hurtful and untrue allegations about his late father's investments, sparked by the Panama Papers leaks.
Cameron said on Monday that “aspiration and wealth creation are not somehow dirty words” and said the UK was acting to stop evasion in overseas tax havens.
The PM has been in a tight spot since his father, late Ian Cameron, was identified as a client of a Panamanian law firm (Mossack Fonseca) that specialises in helping the wealthy to reduce their tax burdens.
Ian Cameron had established an offshore firm Blairmore Holdings.
The PM's office earlier insisted that his financial arrangements were private, before admitting that Cameron and his wife had sold about $44,000 in shares in the offshore fund (Blairmore Holdings) shortly before he became the Premier in 2010, to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
“I accept all of the criticisms for not responding more quickly to these issues last week,” Cameron told MPs in Parliament according to a report on Al Jazeera website. “But as I said, I was angry about the way my father's memory was being traduced.”
Cameron said his father had set up an investment fund overseas so it could trade in dollar securities – “an entirely standard practice and it is not to avoid tax”. He said millions of Britons had investments in such funds through workplace pensions.
On Sunday Cameron published a summary of his tax returns since 2009, becoming the first UK leader to do so.
Meanwhile, defending the PM Sir Alan Duncan, a former Tory minister, has sparked a furious backlash by appearing to say people who aren't rich are “low achievers”.
Responding to that the Labour MP and former government minister, Caroline Flint, said she was saddened that Sir Alan appeared to say “if you weren't a millionaire you were a low-achiever”.
