David Cameron, his wife and their children will not benefit from offshore funds or trusts in the future, a No 10 spokesman has said.
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owning Street moved to clarify the Prime Minister’s personal finances for the fourth time this week after Labour called for an independent inquiry into all Britons linked to a huge leak of tax haven data – including Mr Cameron’s family.
The row centres on an investment fund set up by the PM’s late father Ian, which was registered in the Bahamas to shield it from UK tax.
Mr Cameron first tried to draw a line under the issue of whether he stood to benefit from the fund – Blairmore Holdings – in reponse to a question from Sky’s Faisal Islam on Tuesday.
He said: “In terms of my own financial affairs, I own no shares.
“I have a salary as Prime Minister and I have some savings, which I get some interest from and I have a house, which we used to live in, which we now let out, while we’re living in Downing Street – and that’s all I have.
“I have no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that.”
Mr Cameron also defended his record in office, saying no Prime Minister had “done more to make sure we crack down on tax evasion, on aggressive tax avoidance, on aggressive tax planning both here in the UK and internationally”.
No 10 later issued a further statement, adding that the PM’s wife and children did not currently benefit from offshore funds – prompting questions about whether they had made any gains in the future or previously.
Mr Cameron came under pressure after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged him to publish his tax return and said a probe by HM Revenue and Customs should be “about the amount of money of all people that have invested in these shell companies or put money into tax havens”.
Prime Minister David Cameron Labour MP Wes Streeting, a member of the Commons Treasury Select Committee, welcomed the latest clarification but said Mr Cameron must clarify whether he has previously benefited from any offshore funds. “I think where David Cameron made a rod for his own back yesterday was issuing quite a qualified statement that then led people to think ‘is he being shady about this, is he being evasive, are there further questions to ask’.”
“I think there are still questions about whether or not he benefited in the past,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Chancellor George Osborne refused to be drawn on his personal tax affairs this morning.
He said: “We’ve made very clear the arrangements we have, they’re all declared in the register (of MP’s interests).
“This Government has done more than any other previous British government to make sure people pay the taxes that are owed.”