Britain PM rejects tax evasion allegations as untrue
British Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected “deeply hurtful and profoundly untrue” allegations leveled against him and his father over tax evasion.
Cameron told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Monday that his father’s establishment of an offshore firm was meant for investment purposes and not tax evasion.
Cameron has been under pressure by the media and the opposition to disclose the details of relations between his father, Ian Cameron, and a Panamanian law firm specializing in reducing the tax burdens for the wealthy.
He said in his address to the parliament that “an entirely standard practice” was considered in the establishment of the firm, Blairmore Holdings, and that it was “not to avoid tax.”
Cameron admitted over the weekend that he had shares in the investment fund based in Bahamas. He said, however, that he had sold all his shares in the firm before becoming prime minister in 2012.
The allegations came as Cameron and his financial team have announced new plans to criminalize firms whose staff facilitate tax evasion. That prompted lawmakers from the opposition Labour Party to ask Cameron to reveal further details of his financial affairs during parliament hearing on Monday.
The row over the so-called Panama Papers, which has implicated many high-profile figures including heads of state around the world, is also expected to badly distort the image of Cameron as a leading figure in the international fight against corruption. Cameron is to chair a major global event on the issue in London in May.
During the hearing, the British premiere again defended efforts made in his government to counter tax evasion, repeating a previous statement in which he claimed that his administration “has done more than any other to take action against corruption in all its forms, but we will go further.”
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