Calls for David Cameron to resign as he admits he profited from father’s offshore investment fund

As a result of the Panama Papers leak, British Prime Minister David Cameron has admitted to having a profitable stake in his father’s offshore investment fund He also admitted to selling the stake for around €30,000 before he became Prime Minister.

The leak revealed the tax affairs of hundreds of powerful individuals worldwide. The papers detailed the late Ian Cameron’s fund that ran under the name, Blairmore Holdings. Cameron initially said that this was a “private matter” but then several statements were issued denying that Cameron currently benefited from the offshore funds or that he stood to do so in the future.

In an interview with ITV News, Cameron insisted that it was a “fundamental misconception” that Blairmore Holdings was set up by his father in the 1980’s in the Bahamas to avoid paying taxes. He said his father was being “unfairly written about,” adding that he and his wife Samantha Cameron’s profits from the scheme was “subject to all the UK taxes in the normal ways.”

“I paid income tax on the dividends, but there was a profit on it but it was less than the capital gains tax allowance, so I didn’t pay capital gains tax, but it was subject to all the UK taxes in all the normal ways,” Cameron said. “So I want to be as clear as I can about the past, about the present, about the future, because frankly, I don’t have anything to hide.”

“I’m proud of my dad and what he did and the business he established and all the rest of it. I can’t bear to see his name being dragged through the mud, as you can see, and for my own, I chose to take a different path from my father, grandfather and great-grandfather, who were all stockbrokers, and I’ve got nothing to hide in my arrangements and I’m very happy to answer questions about it.”

In the wake of the admission, the Independent’s Kristy Major called on the Prime Minister to resign:

David Cameron is a man with reputation seemingly made titanium. Really, who does this guy have to piss off to merit serious calls for his resignation? Considering it’s just been revealed that he did actually have a stake in his father’s offshore investment fund, the lack of outrage is astonishing.

Cameron admits he had a stake in his father’s offshore trustThis is the moment David Cameron exclusively admits to Robert Peston that he did have a profitable stake in his father’s offshore trust #PanamaPapersFor more on this story: https://bit.ly/1WfqFXl

Posted by ITV News on Thursday, April 7, 2016

Featured image via screen grab

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