United Kingdom

    David Cameron is coming under pressure to stop British overseas territories and Crown dependencies being used by the wealthy to reduce their tax bills. A massive data leak from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca showed it registered more than 100,000 secret firms to the British Virgin Islands. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said the government needed to "stop pussyfooting around" on tax dodging. Downing Street said the UK was "ahead of the pack" on tax transparency. Eleven million leaked documents showed how Mossack Fonseca clients were able to launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid tax - the law firm says it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years. There are links to 12 current or former heads of state in the data, including dictators accused of looting their ow...

    The eerie apparitions of two children have been 'caught on camera' by ghost hunters at a 17th century home. These spooky images were taken by paranormal investigation group The Haunted Hunts during a visit to Pen-Y-Lan Hall near Ruabon, in North Wales. The first image shows what appears to be a young boy in black staring out of the Grade-II listed gothic building’s window. While another hair-raising photograph captured in the grounds of the home features the ghostly face of a young girl, with eyes, nose and mouth clearly visible. The gothic house was built in 1690 and is said to be home to a number of ghostly apparitions, reports the Daily Post. Visitors claim to have heard footsteps and voices from empty rooms and strange shadows lurking in the dark. Legend tells that the...

    David Cameron’s father, senior Tory peers and former Conservative MPs are among the hundreds of individuals named in an unprecedented leak of confidential documents showing how the world’s richest people hide their wealth. Though he is not named in the reports himself, the British Prime Minister is linked to the so-called “Panama Papers” by his late father Ian Cameron, who died in 2010. According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which coordinated the research into the 11 million secret files handed over by an anonymous source, Mr Cameron used Mossack Fonseca’s services to shield his investment fund, Blairmore Holdings Inc. A 2006 prospectus for Blairmore Holdings Inc described Mr Cameron, a stockbroker and multi-millionaire, as “instrumental in...

    Children were witnessed going into the building greeted by people who appeared to be teachers (Picture: [copyright]) A London council’s education authority destroyed evidence that children were being educated in illegal faith schools at the request of religious institutions, The Independent can exclusively reveal. The Department for Education has been aware of this cover-up since 2010 but does not appear to have taken any steps to act against the destruction of these records. An investigation by The Independent has also found that more than 1,000 children are currently missing from schools in London and are at risk of abuse in illegal faith schools. The schools are ultra-Orthodox Jewish faith schools at which boys are placed from the age of 13, and where they receive no ed...

    The Brexit campaign group backed by the justice secretary, Michael Gove, is trying to persuade senior NHS staff to sign a letter that includes a direct attack on David Cameron, who is accused of having “starved” the health service of funding. In an email leaked to the Guardian, Vote Leave’s Cleo Watson tells clinicians that her group “desperately needs” doctors, nurses and pharmacists to warn that Britain’s health service is being damaged by the EU. A draft version of the letter included by Watson says: “David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt must accept responsibility for this – they have starved the NHS of necessary funding for too long.” She says in the email the letter will be published on Monday to mark the start of a week in which out campaigners will focus on NHS issues such...

    From Friday 1 April, consumers will be hit by a range of inflation-busting price increases that affect many things in Britain from buying a property to going to the dentist. Hannah Maundrell, editor in chief at money.co.uk, said 1 April “seems to have become ‘national price hike day … The majority of the price hikes seem pretty small, many as low as 1%. However all these small hikes add up to fewer pounds in your pocket.” Stamp duty rise on second homes An extra 3% stamp duty on any property bought as a second home or buy-to-let investment will add £6,000 to the cost of buying a £200,000 property. Solicitors have been working flat out to ensure deals were completed before the deadline. Council tax Millions of families face the largest increase in council tax since 2008, af...

    Many people worry about forgetting their passport when they travel, but few would leave the house without their smartphone. The British passport maker De La Rue may have found a solution to the problem: moving travellers' passports onto their mobile phones. Martin Sutherland, the chief executive of De La Rue, told The Times that the company has begun working on technology that could securely store passport details on smartphones, rendering passport books obsolete. The paperless passports, which we first read about on The Telegraph, would allow individuals to pass through immigration control at airports without any physical documents. If they become a reality, the digital passports could work like mobile boarding passes, according to The Telegraph's report. "Technology is a...

    Money is clearly no object to the Saudi owner of the gold supercars as today the £1 million fleet was hit with hundreds of pounds in parking fines. A gold Lamborghini Aventador, Rolls Royce, Mercedes G63 6x6 and Bentley Flying Spur caused a stir in the Knightsbridge area they were parked in, with dozens of people stopping to take photos on their mobile phones. The Lamborghini had two separate penalty notices for Tuesday and Wednesday slipped under its wiper blade, while the Mercedes and Bentley each had one. The fines of £80 each time, reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days, mean the owner, reportedly from Saudi Arabia, owes the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea as much as £320. The vehicles could even be removed and fines increased if the charges go unpaid. The cars ...

    David Cameron will chair a meeting in Downing Street later to discuss the crisis in the steel industry, amid growing fears of huge job losses in the sector. The Government has been criticised for its response to Indian conglomerate Tata's announcement that it will sell its UK assets, including the country's biggest steel plant at Port Talbot in south Wales. Around 40,000 jobs could be lost if no buyer is found, according to an analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research. Unions have accused ministers of sending mixed messages after initially saying the Government was looking at all options to retain steelmaking before ruling out nationalisation. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who visited Port Talbot on Wednesday, said he was shocked Business Secretary Sajid Javid di...

    Turbulence in the Tory ranks may be fast dropping down the list of David Cameron's concerns, as a petition to ban him from re-entering the UK has attracted more than 30,000 signatures. The prime minister is currently in Lanzarote for the Easter break and has faced criticism for jetting off to the Canary Islands while urging Brits to holiday in the north of England. The online petition was launched by Kerry-anne Mendoza, an independent journalist and former NHS consultant from Farnborough. It reads: "David Cameron presents a clear and present danger to the short, medium and long term interests of the country. As such, the UK should institute a temporary ban on his return to Britain at the conclusion of his holiday in Lanzarote." Addressing the signatories, Mendoza said: "Th...