Prime Minister David Cameron, his wife and their children will not benefit in future from any offshore funds or trusts, a spokesman said on Wednesday as the British leader faced more questions over family tax affairs.
Cameron’s late father, Ian, was among the tens of thousands of people named in leaked documents from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca which showed how the world’s rich and powerful are able to stash their wealth and avoid taxes.
After having at first described it as a private matter, Cameron’s office said on Tuesday that he and his family did not benefit from any such funds at present. Cameron also said he did not own any shares or have any offshore funds.
But his failure to say whether he or his family would benefit in future only intensified media speculation, with the story splashed across many newspaper front pages on Wednesday.
“There are no offshore funds or trusts which the prime minister, Mrs Cameron or their children will benefit from in future,” a spokesman for Cameron said on Wednesday.
Cameron has cast himself as a champion in the fight against tax evasion, particularly in British-linked territories such as the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, but the opposition Labour Party has said the “Panama Papers” show the government has failed to tackle the issue.
Labour lawmaker Wes Streeting, a member of parliament’s Treasury Select Committee, told BBC Radio the latest statement from Cameron’s office was welcome but there were still questions about whether he benefited from offshore funds in the past.
“The question will be when our prime minister says he is serious about tackling it (tax evasion) … are we absolutely certain he doesn’t have a vested interest? And if he does have a vested interest, will he be up-front with us about it?” he said.
The Telegraph reported that Ian Cameron’s fund moved its operations to Ireland in 2010, the year Cameron became prime minister, as the directors believed it was about to “come under more scrutiny”.
