Panama Papers: David Cameron Dodges Question Over Whether His Family Benefited From Offshore Fund

'The two things I am responsible for are my own financial affairs and the tax system of the UK'
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

David Cameron has "no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds", following demands by Jeremy Corbyn that there be an investigation into his tax affairs.

The prime minister has been under pressure to disclose whether his family still has offshore investments or benefits from the Blairmore Holdings fund set up by his late father.

Revelations in the so-called Panama Papers included information that Ian Cameron's Blairmore Holdings company avoided paying UK tax.

 

“I have no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that.”

- David Cameron

Questioned on Tuesday afternoon, Cameron said he had given a "very clear description" of his finances.

However sidestepped addressing whether he benefited from his father's offshore fun and did not mention his wider family.

"The two things I am responsible for are my own financial affairs and the tax system of the UK," he said.

"In terms of my own financial affairs, I own no shares. I have a salary as prime minister. And I have some savings which I get some interest from. And I have a house which we used to live in, which we now let out while we are living in Downing Street. "That is all I have."

He added: "I have no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that."

Cameron had been asked: "Can you clarify for the record that you and your family have not derived any benefit in the past and will not in the future from the offshore Blairmore Holdings fund mentioned in the Panama Papers?"

The prime minister took one question from Sky News but left the event in Birmingham before taking any more questions from reporters.

Earlier today, Corbyn said an independent investigation should be launched into all Britons, including Cameron, linked to the Panama Papers. 

The Labour leader said it was in the prime minister's "own interests" to explain "exactly what has been going on".

“It’s a private matter in so far as it’s a privately held interest, it's not a private matter if tax has not been paid and so an investigation must take place, an independent investigation, to decide whether tax is owed or not." he said.

Cameron, who was taking part in a Q&A designed to promote the UK's membership of the EU, did not rule-in or out an investigation as called for by Corbyn.