David Cameron has admitted he should have handled the row over his tax affairs “better” and told activists at the party’s local election launch that he “will learn the lessons” of the past week.
In a humiliating apology to the party faithful at a conference in London, the British PM attempted to draw a line under a dreadful week in which he repeatedly failed to clarify his tax affairs.
Cameron also confirmed that “later on” he will publish his tax returns stretching back six years to 2009/10 when he sold shares in his father’s offshore company Blairmore Holdings.
Meanwhile, protesters gathered outside Downing Street and the Grand Connaught Rooms, the hotel where the Conservative Spring Party Conference is held, calling on Cameron to resign. The singer Lily Allen was among the demonstrators.
Cameron told the audience of activists: “Well it’s not been a great week. I know I could have handled this better, I should have handled this better, I know there are lessons to learn and I will learn them. Don’t blame Number 10 Downing Street or nameless advisers. Blame me, I will learn the lessons.
“I was obviously very angry about what people were saying about my Dad. I love my Dad, I miss him every day. He was a wonderful father and I’m very proud of everything he did.
“But I mustn’t let that cloud the picture and the facts are these. The facts are that I bought shares in a unit trust, shares that are like any other sorts of shares, and paid taxes on them in exactly the same way. I sold those shares in fact I sold all the shares that I owned.
“Later on I will be publishing all the information that goes into my tax return, not just for this year but for years gone past because I want to be completely transparent and open about these things. I will be the first Prime Minister, the first leader of a major political party to do that. I think it’s the right thing to do.”
“This Government that I lead will go on very clearly, very doggedly, very determindly making sure that we crack down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.
“When Labour say quite rightly that we have given international leadership of this issue, that will go on being a signature tune of this Conservative Government. And quite right too.”
Activists arriving at the event were met by campaigners on both sides of the EU argument in a demonstration of the divisions within the Tory ranks.
The Brexit-backing Mayor told activists that Brussels is “a city I love though not necessarily all the institutions therein”.
London has 400,000 French citizens living in it “which will remain the case” after June 24 – or “independence day” as Mr Johnson dubbed it.
He said the latest James Bond movie, which featured his City Hall office in a climactic scene, was a “very important study in what happens to an unelected bureaucratic cabal”.
Remain supporter Home Secretary Theresa May told the event: “The referendum is a question to which the answer will define our country for years to come.
“But we mustn’t allow it to define our Party. Being a Conservative is more than about being Leave or Remain.
“It’s about making sure Britain is the best possible country for our children to grow up in and for our elderly to grow old in – the best possible place for our families, friends and neighbours to live and thrive and prosper.”
